I'm not okay
by Antlers
Summary: Bella and Edward grew up in an orphanage together, and when Edward gets adopted by Dr. Cullen and his wife, it tears them up inside. Edward promised her they would see each other again, but Bella is doubtful. After all, it's not such a small world.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

_I wiped my eyes as he gave me one last hug. "Don't cry, Bella." He whispered softly. "We'll see each other again someday."_

_I tried to hold back the sob that was rising in my throat, making it impossible to speak. My voice came out strangled with all the emotion. "N-no we w-won't! I'm n-never gonna see you again!" my voice rose to a wail at the end. I threw my arms around him like I was trying to anchor him there, so that he could never leave me. They tightened when I heard his new parents calling for him. _

_"Bella, I have to go now. Come on, let me go." He said when I protested. He held my face securely in his hands and looked me straight in the eyes. "I _will_ see you again," he promised._

_I bit my lip and held out my pinky finger. "Promise?"_

_He linked his pinky with mine. "I promise," he said._

_I watched him as he turned and left with his new family. The tears I tried to hold back finally spilled over the edge and gushed down my face. "Good-bye, Edward."_


	2. Chapter One

I sat on my bed, looking out the window. Well, it's not really a bed; it's more of a bunk cot. My orphanage can't really afford nice beds, but I didn't care. All I did, every day, was sit on the top cot and looked out the window. I'm not sure what I was looking at. But I did it every day, every hour, every minute for seven years.

Something sharp poked my side. It startled me out of my staring and I screamed. My face twisted into a scowl when I saw fuzzy black hair poking over the side of my blanket. "Alice," I growled. "I told you not to do that!" Alice just giggled and rolled her eyes. She grinned and jumped onto the bed with me.

Alice was my only friend. She was five years younger than me, so she was much smaller than me. In my personal opinion, she looked kind of like a modern Snow White. Her skin was, well, snow white. Her eyes were a beautiful light brown, golden in the light. I looked at her inky black hair and sighed. Last year she decided that she was going to try and cut her own hair. It didn't end well. Before, it had been long and wavy, reaching past her waist, making her look like a wild child. Now it barely made it past her ears, and her cowlicks made it point in every direction.

"Bella, I told you that you shouldn't scowl so much! It makes you look like a grumpy old man!" Alice complained. She never shut up.

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Alice, I told you not to call me Bella! My name is Isabella!" I hated the nickname Bella. "And why are you on my bed? I told you not to get on here."

Alice made a face at me. "Chill, Izzy. I just came to tell you that there's a family coming soon and Mrs. Hendricks said to be on your best behavior and not be antisocial." She looked me up and down. "You need to change into something nice. Make a nice first impression, you know?" She jumped down and landed gracefully on her feet. Another reason she annoyed me. I was almost as graceful as a drunken elephant.

I climbed down using the ladder, and went to stand by Alice, who was rummaging through the closet. I tuned out her complaints by thinking about the day Edward had left. I remembered how much it killed me, and I couldn't help but hope that the new family would ignore Alice and me.

A pink dress was shoved into my face. "Wear that!" Alice chirped. I gave her a look. "No. I'm not wearing a dress, and there is NO WAY I'm going to wear pink." I rolled my eyes. "Dummy."

Groaning, Alice turned back to the closet. For me, she picked out a white long sleeved v-neck and a black knee length skirt. For her, she picked out a bright blue sundress. Something seemed to occur to her and she turned to me slowly with an awful grin on her face.

"What?" I asked, cautious.

"Izzy-bella needs to wear a…" she started to pull out something from behind her back.

Oh no.

"BRA!" She shrieked. Laughing like a maniac at my horrified expression, and waved it over her head.

I heard footsteps behind me, and heard someone snort. "You two are such freaks. Seriously, you're playing with bras?" I hate that nasally voice.

Lauren pushed in front of us to get to the closet. She was so stuck-up and Alice and I hated her. She even had the nerve to section off a part of the closet, call it hers, and take all the pretty clothes. If anyone tried to wear one of "her" outfits, she screeched at them for hours and made their life miserable for a few weeks. I speak with experience.

"Buzz off, Lauren." Alice warned.

Lauren turned her piercing gaze onto her. "You little brat, don't talk to me like that."

Drawing herself up to her full height of four feet eleven inches, Alice squared her jaw and crossed her arms. Lauren let out a snort and flipped her hair. I watched, both amused and anxious.

"Don't waste my time." Lauren hissed as she picked out the frilly pink dress that Alice had tried to get me to wear a few minutes earlier. She stormed out, undressing on the way.

I whipped my head around and stared at Alice. Her expression was black. "I hope she gets adopted today." She spat.

I sighed. "Calm down, Alice. Ten year olds shouldn't get so mad."

I thought I heard her mumbling something about knowing where I sleep, and so I shut up. Alice shoved the bra into my arms and pushed me into the bathroom. "Get changed fast, Isabella. I still have to do your hair and makeup."

"You're not doing anything to my face or hair, Alice." I mumbled.

I heard a whatever in response.

I took off my clothes slowly, my body on autopilot. My mind had drifted back to the day Edward left. How many years had it been? He had left around June that year, and I was eight at the time. That means it had been seven years. With a jolt, I realized that he would be almost seventeen by now.

I shook my head to get rid of my thoughts. I looked in the mirror, filled with self-loathing. Everything about my face I hated. Everything about me, in general, was hated by me.

My face was heart shaped and white. Almost whiter than Alice's, it was basically see-through. I suppose it could be pretty, but not until I was in my twenties. I sincerely hoped that by that time my acne would have gone away. All over my face angry red dots stood out, like bee stings. My eyes were dark, so dark they made me look like a demon sometimes. It didn't help that my eyelashes were thick and made it nearly impossible to see my demon eyes. My nose was small and slightly round. My lips were dark red, so it constantly looked like I drank blood.

With a heavy sigh, I turned away from the reflection. I tried brushing my hair, but the brush just got caught. Maybe Alice wasn't so crazy when she cut her hair. My hair was as dark as my eyes, and wavy enough to cause me grief. It stopped around my mid-back, and was constantly greasy. I washed my hair everyday, but it just wouldn't get cleaned.

I looked down at my body. I was apparently a late bloomer, a very late bloomer. I was fifteen years old and just starting puberty. I was short for my age, and that didn't do flattering things for my figure. I was skinny, but I still had obnoxious pockets of baby fat on my stomach, butt, and thighs. I wanted to get rid of them but I lacked the motivation to work it off. Through my shirt, I looked like a lumpy marshmallow. I looked away from myself with disgust.

There's no way anyone would want to adopt me.


	3. Chapter Two

I walked outside with Alice, who looked adorable in her dress. We walked over the grass to our favorite spot by the giant willow tree. I sat under the branches and watched Alice as she climbed up to the thickest limb. She found that spot a few months after she came to the orphanage. If you climb out to almost the end of it, there is a big knot in the limb that if you stuck your hand in it, it would come up to almost your elbow. Ever since Alice found it, she has been sticking little knick-knacks in it that meant something to her.

We talked for a bit about stuff that didn't really matter. It was so easy for me to forget that she was five years younger than me; she saw things just like I did. I was listening to her talk about her older brother that she looked up to more than anything when she stopped talking and stared out in the direction of the orphanage.

I frowned. "What's wrong, Alice?" She just kept staring, and so I followed her gaze and gasped.

A beautiful woman in a navy blue dress was walking toward us, smiling. I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach. This was the woman who was here to adopt, and against all of my prayers, she was paying attention to us. She came and sat down next to me, and beckoned for Alice to come down.

"Hello," she said in a quiet voice. Alice started to sit next to me, but the lady smiled and patted the ground next to her. "Sit next to me, please." When she saw the reluctance in Alice's eyes, her smile just grew. "Don't worry, I won't bite."

Alice went to sit next to her, away from me. The knot in my stomach got tighter when I realized that this woman was probably considering taking my friend from me. I decided I didn't like this woman at all, no matter how pretty she was.

"What's your name?" she asked in her musical voice.

Unsure if she was speaking to me or Alice, I spoke first.

"Isabella." I said quietly.

"Alice."

Pretty lady smiled again. "What beautiful names! My name is Sandra Dewitt. Nice to meet you, Isabella and Alice." She stuck out her hand, and Alice shook it.

"Nice to meet you," We mumbled.

Mrs. Dewitt folded her hands across her lap and gazed at Alice. "So, tell me about yourself, Alice."

"Ummm. My name is Alice and I'm ten years old." She said.

Nodding, Mrs. Dewitt turned to me. "And you, Isabella?"

Following Alice's example, I said, "My name is Isabella and I'm fifteen years old." Mrs. Dewitt frowned briefly at my age, but quickly tried to cover it up.

"What is your I.Q?" she asked, turning back to Alice.

My jaw dropped. What is her I.Q? What kind of woman would ask that after knowing her for a mere three minutes? How does she expect her to know her I.Q, anyway?

Alice frowned. "I don't know."

Mrs. Dewitt pursed her lips. "Well that just won't do, will it? I'll have to speak with Mrs. Hendricks about that, I don't want a child with a low I.Q." She quickly stood up and brushed off the dirt that was on the bottom of her dress. With a parting smile, she left. Alice and I watched her leave, horror growing stronger in my heart.


	4. Chapter Three

It had been two days since that awful Sandra Dewitt had come to the orphanage, and found Alice. Two days of extreme pain as I watched Mrs. Hendricks tell Alice that she was going to be adopted, wasn't this just wonderful? Two days of clutching Alice as close to me as possible and sobbing my eyes out. Two days of watching Alice pack the few things she had, watching her retrieve her precious knick-knacks from her knot hole.

I was sitting on my cot, staring out the window. I had opened it a few hours ago, and now that was a cool breeze that stung the tears on my cheeks. Alice was sitting next to me, doing the same. Neither of us said anything, there was nothing we could say. We only had a few hours left together before that horrible woman came to take my only friend away from me.

A new sob rose in my throat as I had the thought. Only a few hours. More tears spilled down my cheeks as I began to sob quietly. I heard Alice follow suit and wrap her tiny arms around my middle.

"I don't want you to go." I whispered for the millionth time.

Alice was quiet for a minute. "Me either," she said quietly.

I clenched my teeth together. "Why do they always do this?"

"Do what?" Alice looked up at my face.

"Take the most important people away from me."

Alice's face twisted in pain, and I felt bad for saying it.

"Isabella, I…" Alice hiccupped. She put her head on her knees. I rubbed her back, trying to ease her pain, just a little.

The other kids that shared our room had the decency to not come in the room, and they slept in the room across the hall instead. I heard the door open, and I tried to wipe the wetness off of my cheeks. I looked over to see who came in, and it was Lauren. My frown deepened. I couldn't deal with her right now.

However, instead of her usual arrogant attitude, Lauren had a sympathetic look on her face. She knew as well as the rest of us how painful it was to have your closest friend taken away. Her sister, Jessica, who she had been closer to than anyone else on the planet, had been adopted a year ago on Lauren's birthday. That's why she acted like she did, she was just in pain.

"Alice, Mrs. Hendricks told me to tell you to get washed up." She said softly. "Mrs. Dewitt will be here in two and a half hours to pick you up." When she saw our faces, she seemed to consider saying something, and figured that since she'd never see Alice again, she might as well. "Alice, I'm sorry for how I treated you and Isabella. I didn't mean most of the things I said. I was just jealous of how close you two are, and I just wished that I still had something like that." She smiled weakly. "And you know what else? You're an alright kid. We're sure going to miss you." With that, she turned and left the room, closing the door quietly.

Alice and I looked at each other, shocked. "Wow," Alice murmured. "I wasn't expecting that."

I laughed once. "Me neither." I sighed. "I guess we should start cleaning you up."

Alice stood, and holding her arms out to either side, she jumped off the bed. I freaked out, since she was so small she would have a ways to fall. She landed on her feet as always, though. I started to climb down the ladder, and then changed my mind and copied Alice. Alice grinned her special grin. I was going to miss that grin so much.

She went into the bathroom to take a quick shower, and came out in the dress I picked out for her the night before. It was a black dress with black lace on the end of the long sleeves, and on the rimming of the bottom. I smiled at how beautiful she looked. She sat down on a chair and I went over to do her hair. It was still wet, so I brushed it so it was as flat as it would get, and then plugged in the hair dryer. As I was drying, I saw her cowlicks taking over again and chuckled.

That took up a whole hour and a half. We only had one hour left before we were separated. I closed my eyes and sighed deeply. All of a sudden I remembered something I had meant to do earlier. I set down the dryer and Alice unplugged it for me. I ran over to my cot, and found the tiny wooden box I hid there. I pulled it out and looked at it for a minute. I felt Alice's gaze on my back, and I climbed down and handed her the box. She held it and looked at me questioningly.

"What is it?" she asked, starting to open it.

"I made it for you a few years ago."

Alice opened the box all the way and gasped. The inside of the box was lined with black velvet, and sitting inside of it was a small wooden carving. She held it up using the shining string, and gazed at the figure it held in wonder.

A few years ago, I had noticed that she had a deep affection for her tree, and at the time, I still remembered how to carve. I had taken a fallen limb and carved an ornate tree with a small girl sitting on one of the branches. The whole thing fit in her small hands. For the necklace part, we had found it one day when we had been climbing all over the willow tree. Alice climbed all the way to the top and saw a beautiful chain hanging on the smallest branch. We had marveled over the tiny links and how beautiful and shiny it was. She was seven at the time and I was twelve. Alice always called it her magic necklace, and came up with stories of how it got there. I always listened, captured by her wondrous imagination.

Alice looked up at me with tears in her eyes, shocked that I had done something like this for her. She took a shaky breath and looked back down at it. "Did you make the box, too?" she asked quietly.

I bit my lip, hoping that she wouldn't ask that question. "No," I sighed. "Edward gave me that box a few days before he left. He always told me that it belonged to his mom before she died, and it had been passed down in the women of his family for generations. The box was cherry wood, and it had leaves carved into the sides. The clasp was a golden maple leaf, and extremely detailed.

Alice looked back at me. "And you're giving it to _me_?" she asked in wonder.

I nodded.

"But Edward gave it to you," she protested. "There's no way I could take it from you."

I chuckled softly, and said, "You so much to me, I wish there was more I could do."

Alice's eyes overflowed with tears, and they starting running down her face. She put her face in her hands. "Isabella…"

I tilted her head up, and wiped the tears off her cheeks. "Just promise you won't forget me, okay?"

She looked at me. "I promise."

We heard Mrs. Hendricks calling for Alice. I smiled, but it came out more like a grimace. "Bye, Alice." I murmured.

She started to leave, and when she got to the door, she turned back around and came up to me. Holding out her hand and extending her pinky finger, she grinned at me. I guess I told her the story of me and Edward's goodbye too many times.

"Promise I'll see you again, Bella?" she asked.

I thought for a minute, and then linked my pinky with hers. "I promise." Alice's grin got wider, and she gave me a hug before walking out of the door forever.


	5. Chapter Four

I'm leaving the orphanage today. My eighteenth birthday passed a week ago, and so I no longer qualified to stay at the orphanage. The only reason I wasn't kicked out on the day of my birthday is because Mrs. Hendricks wanted to make sure I had somewhere to stay. I had found this awesome little apartment downtown, and it was fairly cheap, so I rented it out immediately. It was on the second story, and it was three rooms, not including a bathroom. It has a living room, a kitchen, a decent sized bedroom, and a bathroom with a pretty decent bathtub. I couldn't wait to move in.

All day I had been walking around the orphanage, seeing everything for the last time. I saved the tree for last, knowing that I would probably break down. I walked outside on the same path I had walked with Alice so long ago. When I reached the tree, I stood for a moment looking at its beauty, engulfed in nostalgia. Looking up, I saw the branch that Alice always used to sit on. I climbed up onto it, and sat, completely at peace. My eyes traveled to Alice's knot hole, and I bit my lip, trying to decide whether or not I should look in it. I took a deep breath and crawled carefully to the hole. My eyes caught a shine, and I looked down into it. I gasped.

Gently I pulled out the knot holes last treasure. It was a tiny doll, and I wondered how she made it. Suddenly I remembered a day when Alice was still here, and we had been doing arts and crafts. Our arts and crafts teacher was trying to teach us how to sew, and Alice always did horribly. I remember watching her cut out the outlines of dolls, and try and sew them together with her clumsy fingers. My heart broke a little as I pictured her little face, contorted in frustration, and the anger that appeared when I teased her about her sewing skills. She must have done this around that time.

I looked at the doll. It had uneven black yarn hair, and its eyes were shiny yellow buttons sewn on. It was wearing a crudely cut blue dress. With a jolt, I realized that it was supposed to be Alice. I held it tighter, marveling at how beautiful the stitching was, and I wondered how she had gotten the yarn to stay on. The doll was slightly damp from being rained on for so many years, and I felt a faint pang of regret that I hadn't found it sooner.

Looking back into the knot hole, I saw there was something else in it. I pulled it out and a sob escaped from my throat. It used to be a picture, and I could barely make out the warped outline of two girls. The rain had ruined the picture beyond repair. I flipped it over and saw the words, '_Don't forget me, Bella! –Alice_'

I smiled faintly. She had left me a treasure, and I hadn't found it until I was about to leave. I was glad that I had come by the tree or I might never have found it.

I climbed down and went back inside, and put the doll and the picture in my suitcase. I said my final goodbye's to all of my acquaintances and left the orphanage.

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Once I was inside my apartment, I took out the doll and picture and placed them on the shelf above my bed. I sighed and smiled at my new treasure. I gasped when I realized that it was Alice's birthday today. She would be turning fourteen today. With all my heart I wished that I could see her and see what she looked like. I bet she was beautiful.

I went and sat on the couch with the newspaper opened up on the job section. I scanned the sheet for several minutes and circled a job as a waitress at a café in red ink. I resolved to go there tomorrow to see if I could get the job.

Getting up to go take a shower before bed, I stopped in front of the mirror and smiled. I didn't find myself ugly anymore. In fact, far from it. My face was still heart shaped and white, but now it fit me. My acne was all gone, so it was smooth as marble. I had grown to appreciate my thick eyelashes, because it saved me a ton in makeup. They made it look like I had eyeliner on all the time. My eyes no longer seemed like demon eyes, but they seemed deep, and I liked that. My body was now slim since I had gone into exercise overtime after Alice left. I smirked and got into the shower.

----------------------------------------------------

The next morning I woke easily. I was excited that I was going to get a possible job today. I put on my most capable looking outfit I owned. I gave the Alice doll an adoring glance before I grabbed my keys and left.

I stood outside my door trying to lock it, and for some reason it wouldn't work. I got so frustrated I did this weird half scream half growl and kicked the door.

"Having trouble?" a velvety voice asked. I looked up to see a beautiful young man looking very amused staring at me.

"Um, I guess." I muttered. I blushed a deep red and looked at my feet. I handed him my keys and he locked it with ease. He handed them back to me and I took them without looking at him. I mumbled a thanks.

"Well, I have to go now. I'm going to be late for work," he said. I looked up at him and almost gasped.

He was the most beautiful person I had ever seen. His skin was almost as white as mine, and his hair was an odd bronze color, and it looked like he hadn't brushed it in a week. He was looking at me the same way.

I snapped out of it and said, "Thanks for helping me," and rushed off. I realized twenty minutes later that I forgot to ask him his name. I smacked my forehead and then shrugged it off. There will be plenty of time for introductions later, I figured.

I walked into the little café and looked around. It was adorable. The walls were a light blue, and it had little white tables all around. A few booths were on the edge of the wall, and the counter was very 80's. I went up to the register and asked where I could find the manager.

"Well, well, well. Nice to see you again, angry lady."

I whipped my head up and saw the bronze haired man from outside my apartment behind the register. He had an awful smirk on his face, and what's worse is that it was directed at _me_.

I scowled. "Just tell me where I can find the manager, please." This dude may be hot, but he was freaking _annoying_.

He pointed mutely to a door in the back of the shop, and I could feel his eyes on me while I was walking.

I knocked on the manager's door and a beautiful woman answered. Something at the back of my mind started to surface, but her voice interrupted it. "Hello, may I help you?" her voice was quiet and beautiful.

I smiled. "Yes, I'm here about the help wanted sign? Would you possibly consider hiring me?" I didn't really know how job interviews went, so I wasn't sure what to say.

The woman chuckled. "Of course, I just need you to fill out this form." She handed me a sheet of paper and a pen.

I sat down at one of the tables and started scribbling information on it. I finished it after a few minutes and handed it to the woman. She thanked me and looked it over. "Well, Miss Swan, welcome to Juniper Café."

Juniper Café? What kind of name is that?

"My name is Mrs. Dewitt and I will be your manager."

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**A/N: Oooh, yay, what's going to happen now? I kind of think that this chapter isn't as good as the other ones. Let me know what you think.**

**Also, this doesn't really matter that much, but I am a girl, not a guy. Okay? Haha.**

**I really really love reviews so…review away!**


	6. Chapter Five

**A/N: OMG! My brain is all fizzled out from testing, and so I'm guessing my writing is going to suck. Read it and if it sucks, let me know and I'll delete it and write a different one. Thanks.**

I was shocked. "Mrs. Dewitt?" I squeaked.

She chuckled. "Yes?"

I bit my lip. "No, nothing..." She didn't look convinced so I quickly came up with a different question. "Do we have uniforms or anything?"

"I knew you were going to ask that." She winked at me. God, I _hated_ her. She led me into a door that said Employees only, and searched the shelves for a uniform. After a few minutes, she asked me what my size was, and I told her that I was a 16. Nodding her head, she pulled out the most hideous uniform I have ever seen.

It looked like something straight out of an anime. It was bright pink and ended about mid-thigh. Little white frills decorated the sleeves, collar, trimming, and the apron. I hated it already, and I hadn't even put it on.

Mrs. Dewitt handed it to me and said, "You can start work tomorrow. I expect you here at 7:30 a.m. sharp. Understand?" I nodded solemnly.

She left and went back to her office and I stood there looking down at my feet. The name sounded so familiar, and when I heard it I felt stirrings of unease. Where have I heard it before? I could feel the answer was somewhere inside my brain, but I couldn't pinpoint it. I almost got it when Hot Annoying Dude came and started talking to me.

"Are you okay?" he asked with concern in his voice.

I looked up at him, and gave a little half smile. "Yeah, just nervous I guess."

He laughed. "Is it about having to wear that uniform in front of people?"

I scowled and glared at him. "Oh shut up." I snapped.

He held up his hands in front of him, palms out, and grinned. "Whoa, don't kill me, angry lady."

I narrowed my eyes and stalked off. I was glad that my balance had improved, because if I tripped in front of him I would never be able to show my face in here again. Suddenly I remembered my thoughts from before and spun around, knocking into him. I fell flat on my butt. My face burned, and I bit my lip. Hot Annoying Dude held his hand out to help me up, and I grabbed it.

I felt like an electric current passed through me on contact with his skin. I gasped and jerked my hand back. He was looking a little stunned too, so I guess I wasn't crazy. I struggled to remember what I was going to ask him.

Oh yeah! "What's your name?" I asked.

Unfortunately, his arrogant attitude returned. Smirking at me, he said, "You can call me Mr. Cullen."

"Why?"

"Because I've been here longer, so therefore I am your superior."

My jaw dropped. "Are you kidding me?" What an ass.

His smirk grew more pronounced and he suddenly looked up at the clock. "Hey, it's time for my lunch break." He looked me up and down. "Want to go out somewhere?"

I shook my head in disbelief. "No way," I said.

Hurt appeared on his face. "Why not?"

I made a disgusted sound. "You're kind of an ass." I said bluntly.

Narrowing his eyes in anger, he glared at me. "I'm just trying to be nice to the new girl. Turns out she's not so nice."

I squared my jaw and stormed out the door. I felt a little guilty for being rude, and for some reason I had the feeling I knew him from somewhere. I racked my brain, trying to figure out who it was, but I didn't remember anyone who was nearly as gorgeous as him.

As I got to my apartment, I went into my bedroom and flopped down on the bed. I heaved a heavy sigh and twisted onto my stomach so I could stare at the doll Alice made.

"Alice, I wish you were here." I sighed.

Something clicked.

Alice.

Alice was adopted.

Alice was adopted by a Mrs. D-something.

D…Dewitt.

Mrs. Dewitt.

Oh my God.

Alice was adopted by Mrs. Dewitt.

Mrs. Dewitt was my manager.

I bolted out of my room and to the telephone. I called the café's number and waited for someone to pick up. I prayed that it wouldn't be Hot Annoying Dude, but Mrs. Dewitt.

I heard the click as someone picked up the phone. "Hello, Juniper Café, how may I help you?" it was a woman's voice, and I recognized it.

I gripped the phone. "Hello, Mrs. Dewitt? It's Isabella Swan."

"Oh, hello Isabella," she said in a surprised voice. "Is everything okay?" she asked.

Taking in a deep breath to calm myself, I asked, "Is Alice there?"

The line was quiet for a minute.

When she finally answered, it was in a cold voice. "I'm sorry, Alice isn't allowed to speak on the phone."

_**WHAT?!**_

"Why not?!" I burst out.

"It interrupts her schooling and distracts her. I'm sorry." The line went dead.

I let the phone fall onto the table. Why couldn't I talk to her? It killed me to know that I was working for her adoptive mother and I couldn't even talk to her. If I wasn't allowed to talk to her, would I be allowed to see her? It seemed unlikely.

I dragged my feet to the bed and fell on it face-first. Despair washed over me and I didn't fight it. I knew I shouldn't have promised her I would see her again, I knew it was impossible. A tear slid onto the sheets. Thinking of promises, my mind drifted to Edward. Another promise that was impossible to keep. He was probably somewhere in California or Florida or something. I had this nagging feeling that I was missing something obvious, but I shrugged it off.

I drifted to sleep, and escaped to my dreams.


	7. Chapter Six

_I stood talking to Lauren on the porch of a house I've never seen before. My father and little sister were outside by the grill, roasting marshmallows. Everyone was so happy, and I had a huge smile on my face. _

_Out of nowhere, I heard my father scream. Everyone turned to see, and there was a person biting into his neck, blood spilling down onto the concrete. My little sister screamed, and was soon engulfed by a horde of dead looking people._

_I began to sob as I realized that they were dead. Despair and agony crushed me, and I wished that I had told my father I loved him before he died. _

_I felt someone tugging on my arm and I screamed. I whipped around to try and fight them off, but it was Edward and his adorable 10 year old self, terror plain in his eyes. "Bella," he shouted. "We have to leave! Hurry, before they notice we're here!" _

_I followed him as he led me to a group of people that looked faintly familiar. They were all standing talking as if nothing had happened. They seemed to notice me, and there was pity in their eyes. "Poor girl," I heard muttered by many of them. I barely noticed because I was too busy clinging onto Edward for dear life. I felt so happy that I finally saw him again, and it felt odd when mixed with my agony over my father and sister. _

_Suddenly I saw Mrs. Dewitt in a blue space-fighter outfit standing in front of a really odd car. It was really wide, and almost flat. It was bright red and had a red stripe down the middle. She told us that if we wanted to live we had to get in. Everyone climbed in, and she explained to us that it would take us to the future where zombies were dumber, so it would be easier to survive. We all laid down on it, because there were no seats._

_I felt a peculiar sensation of being on a roller coaster while not being strapped down. It was terrifying. _

_All of a sudden I was standing on a road next to a palm tree, and there were dinosaurs everywhere. I screamed, and one of the dinosaurs, a T-Rex turned and looked at me with interest. I briefly remembered that my little sister had told me that their sight was based on movement, so I hid behind the tree and didn't move. It circled me a few times, and then took one last sniff. Satisfied that there was nothing there, it left. _

_Edward and I were walking down the road with suitcases in our hands and talking about our new apartment. He was arguing with me, saying that it was stupid to move into Lucy's apartment; what if she was a zombie already? I laughed a light laugh, and explained that we wouldn't move into Lucy's apartment, just the one next to it. _

_Edward and I were older, around twenty four or so, and I had my hair swept up into a beehive and I was wearing a poodle skirt. Edward looked handsome in his tuxedo, his bronze hair everywhere. Somewhere deep in my subconscious I realized that he looked a little too familiar, but I couldn't do anything about it._

_We got to our third story apartment and locked the door behind us. It had six huge locks, and they were all extremely difficult to lock. He laughed and helped me with the locks. "Don't get so angry, darling." He drawled. _

_A few minutes later, his father was somehow inside the apartment, and his arm and leg were completely torn off. We watched in terror as he explained that he got bitten by a zombie, and he would be one soon. He closed his eyes and when he reopened them, they were a bright red. He made this gurgling noise at the back of his throat, and blood spilled out of his mouth. "I won't be the last one here…" he warned us, and Edward and I looked outside the window. _

_There were zombies as far as the eye could see._

I jolted awake, the terror from my nightmare still fresh and strong. I tried to relax my stiff muscles, but it didn't work for long. I felt growing unease, and my hearing seemed a thousand times stronger. I heard every little noise, and all of them terrified me.

I quickly gave up on trying to get back to sleep. Jumping off of my bed, I ran over to the light switch and flipped it on. Shudders still ran through my back as I replayed my dream in my head. Hyperaware of the shadows in the next room, I squeezed my eyes shut and ran into it and flipped the switch. I repeated that process for all the rooms.

Deciding that comfort food was what I needed, I stumbled over to the refrigerator and pulled out a strawberry banana yogurt. I sat at the small table and mulled over the dream. It wasn't strange that Edward was in my dream, but it did seem strange that Hot Annoying Dude was in it. I also realized that the man who was my father and the girl who was my sister I had never seen before, but I just knew that they were related to me. I laughed when I figured out that the Lucy we were talking about was the Lucy from I Love Lucy. How ridiculous is that?

I sighed and put my empty yogurt container in the sink along with my spoon. Going over my options in my head, I knew immediately that I couldn't go back to sleep. So I figured I would curl up on the couch and watch a happy movie for the rest of the night.

---------------------------------------------

Waking up the next morning was hell. I hadn't even realized that I fell asleep, and the remote control was still in my hand. Cracking open one eye, I saw the ending credits of _Dumbo_ playing. Groaning, I threw my arm over my eyes. I think I fell back asleep, because I'm not sure what happened for a while. Opening my eyes, I glanced over at the clock.

7:15.

I gasped and rolled off of the couch. I brushed my hair quickly and brushed my teeth as fast as I could. Pulling on the uniform, I didn't even have time to hate it. I grabbed my shoes and decided I would put them on while I walked.

Running out of my apartment, I completely forgot about locking my door. When I was in the parking lot, I heard a voice call out to me.

"Hey, aren't you going to run with shoes?" Hot Annoying Dude shouted. "Be careful, there's glass and stuff out there and you could get hurt!" I heard footsteps running toward me, and so I slowed down. Glancing behind me, I saw Hot Annoying Dude running toward me. I sighed.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked angrily.

I widened my eyes. "What are you talking about?" I was bewildered that he was angry at me and I hadn't even said anything to him yet.

He gestured to my bare feet. "That is really stupid; you could step on something sharp and have to go to the hospital!"

I rolled my eyes. "Re-lax, I'm not going to step on anything sharp." To prove my point, I stuck my nose in the air and marched forward.

As I slammed my right foot down, I felt something poke into my foot. I didn't feel the pain at first, but when I looked down and saw my foot bleeding profusely, I certainly did feel it.

"OWWW!" I screamed. "OW OW OW!" I fell back onto my butt and clutched my foot. I knew that was stupid, but I couldn't help it.

"Damn it, see what you did?" he shouted angrily. "I told you, but you just had to prove that you were too cool for shoes!" He bent down and looked at my foot. "Dammit. This is really deep. I'm going to take you to the hospital."

I looked at him through my tears. "How are we going to get there?" I asked stupidly.

He gave me a look like I was crazy and then said, "I have a car, you know." Picking me up gently, he carried me over to a silver Volvo. I protested slightly at getting blood all over his car, but he said not to worry about it.

The drive to the hospital was mostly quiet, except for my quiet sobbing. My foot hurt so much; it felt like the glass had gone all the way through. The fifteen minute ride was pure agony. Every bump we drove over helped to increase the pain.

When we reached the emergency room, I figured I would have to wait for a little bit before I saw a doctor. But when the hospital attendants saw Cullen's face, they let him through without a word. I looked at him questioningly, but he ignored me. We rode the elevator up to a room on the third floor, and he carried me down to the farthest door on the right. He kicked the door open, and there was a beautiful blonde man sitting at a desk in the far corner. Looking fairly shocked when he saw Cullen carrying me and the state of my foot, he stood up and rushed over to me. He examined my foot while I examined his face.

With light blonde hair and a beautifully structured face, I realized that he could easily be a model instead of a doctor. Looking at his nametag, it said Dr. Carlisle Cullen.

Oh. So that's why this guy got in so easily, this must be his older brother or something.

Dr. Cullen turned to Hot Dude, and they spoke briefly. The doctor smiled good-naturedly at me, and started to clean out my foot.

"How are you today, Ma'am?" he said.

It took me a second to answer, his voice threw me off. "I've been better." I said.

"I imagine so," he chuckled. Why couldn't his brother be as nice as him?

I started to feel pain in my foot, so I asked the first thing that came to mind. "So is Cullen here your brother?" I asked.

They both looked shocked at how I referred to Hot Dude, but they recovered quickly.

"Actually," Dr. Cullen said, "He's my son."

My jaw dropped. "Are you serious?"

They both chuckled. "Yes, I am. My wife and I adopted him quite a few years ago."

I smiled weakly in understanding. "You adopted him? Huh. I might have known him." Turning to Hot Dude, I asked, "What's your FIRST name?"

"Edward." He stated simply.

I stared at him for a minute, and then my head started spinning. I faintly heard Dr. Cullen telling me he put some kind of medicine on my foot, and then I slipped out of consiousness.


	8. Chapter Seven

**A/N: Haha. I know the dream is kind of random and doesn't have anything at all to do with the story, but it's the nightmare I had the day I wrote that and I just wanted to get it out of my head.**

**I'm sorry for all the cliffhangers, I know its killing you guys, but I just don't really know how else to end a chapter…so bear with me, okay? Thanks!!!!!!!!!!! **

**Also there was some confusion about this, but Edward doesn't recognize Bella and Bella doesn't recognize Edward. You have to realize that they haven't seen each other in 10 years, so…yeah.**

I opened my eyes and looked around at my surroundings. I was in a hospital room, I could gather that much. My foot throbbed painfully and I moaned. I heard some movement in the room and looked over. Hot Annoying…no, _Edward_ was standing at the desk moving some papers.

Edward. Edward was adopted by a doctor and his wife ten years ago, and this Edward had a doctor for a father! It must be him! The realization hit me hard, and I began to cry.

Hearing me awaken, Edward turned and looked at me. His face quickly melted into concern when he saw me crying. "Are you okay?" he asked, rushing over to me. "Does your foot hurt?"

I shook my head, even though the throbbing in my foot was almost unbearable. I held out my arms like a small child would who wanted to be picked up, tears streaming down my face. He looked confused, and wasn't sure what he should do. I drew in a shuddering breath and held out my arms farther. Looking unsure, he came over and slowly put his arms around me. I hugged him tightly and tried to stop crying.

He was so warm, and my spirits soared. I liked the feel of his arms around me, the way my arms felt against his muscled back. I sighed, and felt almost completely peaceful.

"Are you okay?" he asked again. "I should go get Carlisle." He tried to pull away, but I just held him tighter.

"I missed you," I breathed. "I missed you so much…" Edward froze, and then pulled back to look at my face.

"What?" he asked, bewildered.

I frowned. "Don't you remember me?"

"I-you…No?" he stuttered.

I felt my face show the hurt I felt, and his looked even more bewildered than before. "You don't remember me?" I wailed.

"No…but could you please tell me who you are?" he said quickly, desperate to stop my crying.

My brow furrowed. "Isabella Swan."

Edward's face went blank for a second, and then understanding lit his eyes. Quickly following was confusion, joy, and a few others I couldn't quite catch.

"Bella?!"

I nodded, my face stretching into a smile. "I missed you so much, Edward!"

He grinned too, his eyes lit with pure joy. "I missed you too, Bella!" When he wrapped his arms back around me, I completely forgot about my foot. Sighing happily into his shoulder, my tears continued, but now they flowed because I was so happy.

I would have been content to stay like this forever, and I guessed Edward would too, but we were interrupted by the door opening.

Dr. Cullen's face went blank with shock, and a grin split his face. "I'm sorry, am I interrupting anything?" he chuckled.

I blushed, and Edward did too. I let go of him, and he seemed somewhat reluctant to let go of me, too. He sat down on the chair next to my bed, and held my hand. The way I felt right now was beyond anything I had ever experienced. I couldn't remember the last time I was so happy. I sighed happily, again. I seemed to be sighing a lot lately.

"Care to explain?" Dr. Cullen asked. He looked at Edward, who in turn ducked his head, embarrassed. His ears were bright red. I laughed, and that attracted the attention of the doctor. "Would _you_ care to explain, Miss Swan?"

I bit my lip, and thought of a way to explain. "Um…" was my brilliant beginning. "Well, I um…" Edward looked at me funny, and my temper flared. "What? I don't see _you_ explaining!" He scowled at me.

"_Anyway_," I continued. "Edward and I grew up in an orphanage together, and when he was 10, you guys adopted him. I stayed at the orphanage until a week ago, I moved into his apartment complex, completely on accident of course. This morning he told me to put on my shoes, I ignored him, stepped on a piece of glass, and here we are."

"Huh." Was all Dr. Cullen said. "I um, think I should leave you two alone for a while." He walked out with his back to us, but I could see his cheek lifted up as if he was smiling.

I turned back to Edward, still smiling. Edward's head was still down, and his ears were still bright red. I sighed loudly, and he looked up at me, something like guilt in his eyes.

"What's wrong?" I asked, frowning. I couldn't think of anything that went wrong.

He rubbed his neck. "Um, nothing. I'm just surprised to see you here." He paused, and grinned. "I'm even more surprised that my Bella is the same person as the Angry Lady Who Kicks Her Door."

I blushed a little at being called his Bella, and I laughed once at his nickname for me. I squeezed his hand, and he looked down surprised, like he forgot that he was holding it. He squeezed back slightly before wriggling out of my grasp.

"Erm, yeah… Carlisle said that you'd have to wear this cast thing, because it went all the way through your foot and stuff…you damaged some pretty important foot muscles." He said awkwardly.

I nodded while looking around the room. I never expected my reunion with Edward to be so awkward and upsetting. Why did he not want to hold my hand? That continued to bother me. I was pretty sure that my hand wasn't uncomfortable. His sure wasn't.

We talked for a while, and Edward told me about his life once outside of the orphanage. A few times, when it got to the more recent events, he seemed like he edited quite a few things from me.

I told him all about Alice, and about how our manager is her adoptive mother. His jaw dropped, and he said that he saw her a few times, but she always seemed very upright and not very carefree at all.

I frowned. That didn't sound like Alice at all. When he told me that her hair as almost to her shoulders, I smiled a little. Silly as it sounded, I kind of missed her pixie cut. I couldn't imagine her with any other hair. I laughed as I told him about her wild cowlicks, and the way they stuck her hair out everywhere. He laughed too, and the sound was beautiful.

After a few hours, we had talked ourselves silly and I was feeling really exhausted. My foot was hurting insanely, and I just wanted it to stop. I stopped giving full sentence answers, so Edward got the point. He offered me a ride back to the apartment and I gratefully accepted.

I did not expect what happened next. I was trying to stand up, wincing at the pain that my weight caused. Suddenly I was off my feet, and horizontal. I gasped, and realized that Edward had picked me up bridal style. I blushed furiously as he carried me to his car and set me gently on the passenger seat.

His face was so close to mine, and I froze. He hadn't moved, and I could feel his breath on my neck, giving me goosebumps. Seeming to snap out of it, he pulled back quickly and went to his side of the car.

The drive home was uncomfortable. I was drifting in and out of consciousness, and Edward seemed really tense the whole time. I was extremely grateful when I saw our apartments come into view. Edward picked me up again (me blushing, of course), and carried us up the steps. Pausing in front of our doors, he seemed to be thinking something over. When he finally moved, it was a slow movement, and he opened his door and carried me through it.

"What are you doing? My apartment is right there," I asked, confused.

Edward set me down on his couch, and said, "You're going to stay over here tonight, I don't want you to fall and kill yourself." he laughed, still tense.

Freezing, I blushed. Edward read my expression and explained quickly, "You can use the bed; I'll sleep on the couch."

I quickly explained to him that I needed to take a shower and I didn't have any spare clothes, but he wouldn't hear it. He simply said that I could use one of his t-shirts to sleep in, and I could use his shower. I blushed furiously at the thought of being naked inside his apartment, though I couldn't say it was unpleasant. I tried to walk to the bathroom, and he just rolled his eyes and picked me up.

"I'll go get you a shirt…" he muttered. Leaving me in the bathroom, I figured he wouldn't be coming back for a while, so I figured I would start the shower. I pulled off my uniform, and shuddered at how exposed I felt. It felt really weird to be almost naked in Edward's bathroom. I pulled off my bra just as the door opened.

"I brought you a…" Edward trailed off as he realized that my uniform was on the floor instead of on me. After half a second, his face turned bright red, and so did I. I wheeled back around so the only thing he could see was my back. The door closed quietly and I knew I was alone again. Just to make sure, I peeked back over my shoulder, and he wasn't there. I sighed in relief, and climbed into the shower as well as I could with the obnoxious cast on my leg. I turned the water to cold to try and dull the burning sensation that spread across my body.

After my shower, I pulled on the shirt and folded my dirty clothes and tucked them under my arm. I wobbled out of the bathroom and saw him lying on the couch, seemingly asleep. I gazed at him for a moment, and then hobbled over to the bedroom.

The bed was king sized, and it took up most of the room. The sheets were navy blue, as was the quilt. I set my clothes down next to the doorway and climbed onto it. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.


	9. Chapter Eight

When I woke up the next morning, it took me a few seconds to realize where I was. I sat up, groggy and disoriented. Under the sheets my foot looked funny, and after staring at it for a few minutes I remembered that I basically killed it. I was about to get up and change into my uniform when I heard Edward talking into the phone, low and quiet. It sounded like he was arguing with someone. I listened hard, even though I knew it was none of my business.

"---won't understand. No, I don't know what I'm going to do about Rosalie." He paused, and I supposed that meant that the person on the other end was talking. Edward let out a frustrated groan. "I don't mean I'm going to dump her, of course not. That would be really stupid. I mean, it's great to see Isabella and all, but I have no idea what she's like. She could be a complete jackass for all I know." He paused again.

My heart felt like it was sinking to my toes. How could I have been so stupid? Of course he would have found a girlfriend, it's not like he had a reason not to. Biting my lip, I slid quietly off the bed and winced at the pain in my foot. That was going to get old really fast. I started to walk, but I heard Edward's voice again and so I stopped and listened, and decided it was better to know than to not.

"Yes of course I liked her. But that was when I was ten, Carlisle. Nothing more than a child's crush! What I have with Rosalie is, well, I love her. I wouldn't trade her for anyone in the world, childhood buddy or not." While he paused, my heart felt like it was getting stabbed in several different places at once. "All right, Carlisle. I'll talk to you later. Tell Mom I said hi. Yeah, bye." Edward clicked the phone shut, and I heard him walking to where I was. I acted like I was stretching, like I just woke up. He walked in with a big grin on his face. "Ready to go?"

"Where?" I asked.

He rolled his eyes. "To work, Isabella. Where else?"


	10. Chapter Nine

The next few months passed in a blur of boring routine. Every morning I would wake up, get ready for work, meet Edward outside, go to work, bus tables and take orders, go home with Edward, make dinner, take a shower, go to bed, and repeat the whole process all over again. Occasionally his girlfriend would show up at work and sit at one of the tables all day, fluttering her eyelashes at him while I gagged behind the register. I quickly learned not to expect anything more than friendship from Edward.

My foot healed slowly, and eventually I could take off the cast. Everyday before I left my apartment, I made sure to lace up my Converse.

Every day I walked into the café, I would quickly scan it for Alice. She was never there. When I voiced my complaints to Edward, he said that she used to come almost every other week and she would always have huge books in front of her and would be writing in this thick notebook. That didn't help my mood. In fact, I seemed to be angry all the time now. The beautiful high that Edward's reappearance in my life brought was long gone, replaced with an intense frustration.

One morning when I was feeling particularly angry, Edward and I drove to work in silence. I could tell he kept sneaking glances at me, and I had to clench my teeth together to keep from yelling at him. When the café pulled into view and Edward stopped the car, I basically jumped out. I heard him sigh, but I ignored it.

I walked into the café, not even bothering to scan for Alice. I pulled on my apron and struggled to tie it behind my back. Edward chuckled and tied it for me, as was routine. For some reason I never asked him to tie it for me instead of making us waste the extra fifteen seconds of our lives. I went to the register and made myself comfortable.

Edward walked up, with the arrogant attitude that was sometimes there. "Excuse me, Izz, but I believe that I am on register duty today?"

I groaned and left the register. "Does that mean I'm busing tables again?" I hated busing tables.

Edward nodded with a smirk on his face. I grumbled under my breath, and he shook his head in mock sadness.

Already I could see a few tables that needed cleaning, and I cursed the slobs that ate here. As I passed the booth in the far corner, what I saw stopped me in my tracks. There was a small girl dressed in full black, and a medium sized boy with honey blonde hair, also in full black, sitting across from her. As I looked closer, I gasped. It was Alice! Her shoulder length hair threw me off for a second, and then I grinned.

"Hello, welcome to the Juniper Café, how may I help you?" I asked, walking up to their table. I figured that Alice would look up, see me, and jump up and down. Instead, neither of them said anything, but the blonde boy waved me off with his hand. I wasn't going to take that.

"Alice, it's me, Isabella!" Desperate to talk to her, I almost screamed it. Edward looked at me funny and I just shook my head. He shrugged and went back to talking to Rosalie. Alice looked up slightly, said hello, and went back to reading. This wasn't like her at all!  
"Alice, are you okay?" I asked, worried. The boy snorted, and I looked at him, annoyed. "Well, who are you?"

"Jasper Dewitt," he said in a quiet deep voice. Startled that he got adopted by the same witch as Alice, I just stared at him. Alice made a tiny sound, and we both looked at her. She looked at Jasper and he stared at her intently for a second before turning to me. "Please, Miss Swan, you're interrupting our studies." I opened my mouth to protest, and he continued, "And we will not have anything, thank you."

Who the hell did he think he was? How old was he, and why did Dewitt adopt him? As I went over this in my head, Jasper motioned to Alice and she started gathering her things. They both walked past me, their backs rod straight. I let out a half laugh as I realized Alice had hardly gotten taller, and her "brother" was at least a foot taller than her. Edward heard and looked over again, but I was to busy watching them walk out to notice him.


	11. Chapter Ten

I was in a bad mood for the rest of the day, and everyone steered clear of me. I was grateful when I looked at the clock and saw that we had only half an hour to go until quitting time. Figuring that no one would come in this late, I cleaned everything up and made myself comfortable in the squishiest booth. This is where Edward and I hung out at the end of the day when Rosalie and the other customers left.

We were playing Uno with cards Edward had brought when we heard the jingle of the bell above the door. I looked around Edward at the door, and saw an extremely muscled man standing in the doorway. He went and sat down the booth that was farthest from us. I rolled my eyes and groaned. I really didn't want to deal with another customer right now. Edward offered to get him, but I just shook my head slightly. It's better than sitting alone like an idiot looking at Uno cards.

I walked up to him with a fake smile plastered on my face. "Hello, may I help you?" He looked up, and I was surprised to see that his eyes were wet and he looked really upset.

"Whoa, are you okay?" I said without realizing.

He sighed. "Nah."

I sat down across from him, and I could see Edward giving me a look. I shot it right back at him, and he just threw his hands up and shook his head. 'Whatever.' He mouthed.

The big man across from me looked at me, and I just smiled. "Do you want to talk about it?" I asked. For some reason, I actually cared about why he was so distraught.

Big man's forehead creased, and he said so quietly I couldn't be sure he really said it, "She cheated."

My face turned sympathetic when I understood that he was having girl problems. Wanting the details, I pushed a little farther. "What did she do?"

"I don't know, she just…" he paused. "Ah, man…" He put his face into his hands.

My heart did a really weird flip because I felt so bad for him. "What's your name?" I asked gently.

"Emmett." He mumbled.

"Nice to meet you, Emmet. I'm Isabella." I held out my hand, and I admit I was a bit intimidated when his huge hand shook mine. It was really soft and he was gentle, and that surprised me.

Emmett looked at the table briefly, and then said, "Could I have a frozen yogurt?" I chuckled and said sure, and when I returned, he seemed to be in a better mood. I handed it to him along with a spoon, and he ate it slowly, looking thoughtful. He looked at my uniform and cracked a grin. "Do you seriously have to wear that every day?" he asked around the spoon.

I scowled. I've had just about enough jokes about my uniform lately. "Yeah, yeah." I put my chin on my hand and looked at him.

Emmett wasn't done though. "Seriously, the only slightly redeeming quality about that outfit is your shoes, and even then they are kind of dumb-looking. I mean, pink converse?" He shook his head in mock horror. At least I hoped it was mock.

I looked at my shoes and shrugged it off. "My manager makes me wear them. I can't have black shoes."

Emmett chuckled, and my heart fluttered before I beat it down. He's just a stranger, I told myself.

Mrs. Dewitt came out and announced that the café was closed in a tired voice. Emmett and I stood up and said bye to each other. I smiled at him and said that he should come by again, and he did.

Everyday.

**A/N: Yeah yeah, I know that the pairing is kind of odd, but I really don't like it when characters seem to be restricted to a certain pairing. And I really don't like Tanya, so there's absolutely no way she's going to be in this story. **

**Thanks, please review!!!! XD**


	12. Chapter Eleven

Emmett and I sat on my couch watching Shawn of the Dead together. My head was on his shoulder and his arm was around mine. Last week had been our five month mark. He had asked me to be his girlfriend a month after coming to the café on that night. We sometimes went over to each other's houses, and often got home late. We didn't do anything sexual, though. If I was late to get back to the apartment, it was because we had stayed up too late playing Connect Four and benging on snacks. He came to the café everyday around five, and waited at his booth for me to get done. I always loved ending the work day with seeing his smiling face.

I jumped as I saw the main character, Shawn, kill his mom. Emmett chuckled and I ignored him. He laughed whenever I did something dumb or out of the ordinary. Most of the time it was nice to have someone with such a good sense of humor around, but sometimes it got really annoying. I laughed when my least favorite character got eaten. Yawning, I got up and turned off the TV and headed to my bedroom. I knew that Emmett knew that he was supposed to go home, but when I got into my bed I saw him standing in the doorway.

"Hey, Em." I said. I scooted over and he lay next to me. He sighed and shifted around, his legs hitting the wall loudly.

"Geez, Bell. Can't you get a bigger bed? I'm dying here," he grumbled. He shifted again, and his legs and elbow hit the wall again. I snorted.

"Hey, if you don't like my bed, go to your own house. Why are you here again?"

Emmett yawned. "I'm sleepy, and I don't feel like driving." I shrugged and started to fall asleep when I heard a loud banging sound. I screamed and fell off the bed, and started hyperventilating.

"Bella, are you okay?!" Emmett asked worriedly.

"Oh my God it's the zombies! Emmett they're coming to get us! Hide Emmett hide!" I ran around in a little circle while freaking out.

Emmett stared at me for a second and burst out laughing. "You're kidding, right?" he wiped his tears away with his big bear paw.

I couldn't calm down. I kept hyperventilating and I started getting light headed.

Creasing his brow, Emmett said, "Seriously, Bella. It's not a zombie, okay? Take a deep breath and relax." He led me over to the couch and had me sit on his lap. I felt a little safer, and worked on my breathing. I wrinkled my nose.

"Emmett, you didn't spike the Coke or anything, did you?"

He just laughed and messed up my hair.

My wiggled away from him. "Emmett!"

Laughing harder, he just shook his head. "I didn't spike it! Honest,"

My breathing had returned to its normal pace. I stroked his face, and gazed into his eyes. I worked up the courage to say what had to be said.

"Emmett, I lo—" someone knocked loudly on my door. I groaned loudly and said, "Hey, can you get that, Em?" he stuck his nose in the air and I said, "If you do I won't make you go home." He looked at me for a second, apparently trying to decide. The knock sounded again and he went to answer it.

"Hello?" he asked, sounding bored. I was surprised at the next voice.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" a low voice hissed. I sat up quickly, and tried to peer around Emmett at the stranger in the doorway.

"What?" Emmett asked, startled.

I caught a glance at coppery hair over Emmett's shoulder. Edward?  
"You cannot, _CANNOT_, do that to Bella!" the voice roared.

What the freak?!  
"Whoa, buddy, I don't know what you're talking about, but you need to re-lax." Emmett said lazily.

"I know what you're doing, and I should kill you for doing it!" Edward yelled.

Angry, I ran to the doorway, and ducked under Emmett's arm. "Edward! What the hell!" I hissed. He looked surprised to see me, but the surprise was quickly replaced with anger.

"Isabella, get over here!" he yanked my arm and I stumbled over the doorway. I started to pull back, but Edward kept a firm grip on my arm. His grip tightened, and I whimpered.

"Edward, that hurts, let me go!" I tried to pull away again and he just jerked me back again. I heard a deep bass growling, and I looked at Emmett, my eyes wide and panicked. When I saw his face, I gasped. It was the blackest of expressions. His eyes looked pitch black and they were glaring at Edward with almost a murderous look in them.

"Let. Her. Go." He pronounced every word clearly, and his voice shook with anger.

I felt Edward stiffen, and his grip relaxed just the tiniest bit. That was all I needed. I punched Edward in the side, trying to make his grip loosen enough so that I could get out of it. He grunted and gritted his teeth, but the grip didn't loosen. My hand hurt though.

I heard doors opening, and several of my neighbors stepped out onto the balcony, looking at us. "What's going on?" they asked.

Emmett and Edward stared each other down, but Edward had to look up in order to look in Emmett's eyes. I kept glancing between them, keeping as still as I could. Finally Edward clenched my arm tightly and then let go. Keeping eye contact with Emmett, he started to walk back to his apartment. He stopped for a second, and Emmett tensed. Edward spun around and gave Emmett the finger.

"Edward, what the hell was that?!" I screeched. I crossed my arms across my chest, but it was more like I was trying to hold myself up.

Edward just glared at me. "I didn't think you were that kind of person, _Bella_." He spat. I stared after him, shocked, as he stormed down to his car and drove away, the tires squealing.

I don't know how long I stood like that, but it must have been a while since Emmett had calmed down mostly. When he touched my arm, I jumped. He looked at me and he said quietly, "I think we should go inside now." I held his hand and stepped back into my apartment. Without saying anything, we went into my room and lay down. I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

**A/N: Yep. Sorry I didn't post it yesterday; I was busy singing along to Dr. Horrible with my buddy. Haha I memorized all the lines of every character 0.0**

**Remember, review! Because I love reviews and they make me happy.**


	13. Chapter Twelve

I marched up to Edward at work the next morning, and demanded to know what his problem was. He glared at me, and said nothing.

I grabbed his arm and asked again. He glared at me still, and I felt a chill go down my spine.

"What did I do?" I whispered. Edward's face twisted, and his expression was one of disgust.

"I didn't think that you were like that, Isabella." He hissed. The blank expression on my face made him even angrier.

"I don't understand, Edward! I don't know what I did!" I wailed. Edward made an exasperated sound, and pulled his arm out of my hand.

"I didn't think you were a _FUCKING WHORE_!" he shouted in my face. I flinched and barely managed to whisper, "What?"

Rolling his eyes angrily, he continued, "Yeah, that's right. I heard you guys going at it last night, and it was fucking disgusting. I feel like I don't know you anymore,"

My temper flared up. "I don't know what the hell you're talking about!"

"Yes you do! Stop pretending like you're so innocent, everyone knows that you're not!"

"WHAT? You think I had sex with Emmett?! What kind of drug are you _on_?!" I yelled. I was vaguely aware that we were being watched by the customers, but we had to get this sorted out.

"I know you did! I heard you! I can't believe you!" his voiced cracked at the end. I stared at him in disbelief with my eyebrows raised.

"Did your voice seriously just crack?" I laughed. I couldn't stop cracking up. Haha, cracking up. That sent me into further hysterics. I kept laughing, and I didn't notice Edward getting angrier and angrier until…

BAM! I fell over backwards, knocking into an old man and spilling his choco-malt. I saw stars, and pain bloomed around my left eye, and my nose hurt too. I could have sworn I heard a crack. I put my hand over my eye and looked at Edward, stunned.

The whole café was dead quiet for a moment, and then everyone started talking at once. A few teenage boys that looked like they were on the football team at school started getting all up into Edward's face, demanding to know what his problem was, even issuing a few threats. Most people crowded around me, asking me if I was okay, but I couldn't answer them. I continued to stare at Edward in shock, and I could feel tears and warm liquid running down my face.

I felt a small, cool hand on my arm, and I looked up. It was Alice, and she had an expression of concern on her face. "Come on Isabella, up we go." She said while helping me up. I started to cry quietly because of the pain in my eye and nose. She led me over to the bathrooms and started getting a paper towel wet.

"This is going to sting, okay?" she said as she wiped my face. It did sting and my nose felt like it was on fire. Alice inspected it and mumbled, "Oh my. That is really crooked. We have to set it straight or it'll heal like…it won't heal right. So sit still, I'll be right back."

Alice left the room and five seconds later came back with Jasper. She murmured something to him, and he came forward and inspected me nose also. He took a deep breath and said, "Miss Swan, I'm going to beg of you to try not to scream, all right?"

Fear spiked in my chest. What exactly would he do that would make me scream? I found out when he grabbed my nose and twisted it. I forgot about his request, and I screamed. Alice put her hands over her ears and shouted, "Isabella, please!" I tried to stop but now my nose felt a hundred times worse. "What the hell did you d-do?" I cried.

"I just tried to set it straight!" Jasper said. "Now please stop screaming, you are hurting Alice's ears." I glanced at Alice through my tears and she was looking like she was in real pain. I stopped, and contented myself with crying.

We spent the next two and a half hours listening to Mrs. Dewitt yell at Edward and I. She went on and on about how she knew I was no good from the start, how I corrupted her star employee, how irresponsible I was, and how she ought to fire me. I listened in silence, wishing a car would crash through the wall and run her over.

"Are you even listening to me, Isabella Swan?" Mrs. Dewitt shouted. I looked up at her, startled, and she bared her teeth.

Unable to help myself, I laughed shakily. "Seriously? Did you just bare your teeth at me like an animal?"

Mrs. Dewitt looked taken aback for a second, and then regained what little composure she had and folded her hands in front of her. "Isabella, I will consider not firing you if you apologize to Edward and me." She said primly.

I shook my head. "There is no way I'm going to apologize to you or that ass over there." Edward stiffened when I said this, but I ignored him and plowed on relentlessly. "For 300 dollars a month I've not said anything to you, 300 freaking dollars." I lowered the towel from my nose and stood up slowly. "You know what else, Mrs. Dewitt? I hate you, I've hated you since that day I saw you. You're awful and ugly and no one likes you," I finished. I was aware that I was acting like a child, but I was so upset I didn't care. Mrs. Dewitt started yelling at me some more, and I attempted to roll my eyes, but stopped. My left eye hurt like hell. I contented myself with looking around the room like I didn't care. I glanced up at the clock, and gasped, which sent fire back into my nose.

"What is it?" Alice asked quietly. I looked at her; I had forgotten she was there. She was just so quiet.

"Emmett is going to be here soon," I panicked. If he had gotten that angry over the Edward episode last night, how would he react when I'm covered in blood and my eye is probably swollen closed? The possibilities were terrifying.

Edward jumped up and burst out at me, "Why do you even like him?!"

I looked at him, and said, "I don't like him."

Edward looked confused, and asked, "What? I thought that…" relief passed over his features for a reason I couldn't place.

Staring at him with my good eye, in a low voice I said, "I love him." My voice was deadly.

Edwards mouth opened and closed over and over again, giving him the look of a goldfish. He started getting visibly upset, and I turned away from him and looked at Alice and Jasper.

"Thanks, Alice. And Jasper, too, I guess." I added on grudgingly. I was still mad that he messed with my nose. I walked over to them and gave Alice a hug. She hugged me back lightly and whispered in my ear, "If you ever want to talk, come to the park, okay?" I pulled back and looked at her, but she didn't look like she just said anything to me. I caught on, and didn't say anything, just nodded slightly.

Everything was erased from my mind when I heard the jingle of the shop door's bell. Emmett walked in and surveyed the café. A table and a few chairs were turned over, and there was blood on the ground. "Bella?!" he called, alarmed.

"In here, Emmett," I said as loudly as I could without it reverberating back through to my eyes and nose. Its funny when you hurt something on your face and everything seems to affect it, but when it's not hurt, nothing bothers it. It was amusing and irritating.

I stood with my back to the door of Mrs. Dewitt's office, so when Emmett burst in he couldn't see the full extent of the damage. But he could see where the blood soaked into my uniform and all over my hands. I never knew nose wounds bled so much…

"Bella?!" He cried, even more alarmed now. He ran over to me and turned me around. Gasping when he saw my face, he whispered, "Who did this to you?" His eyes were full of concern, horror, and fury. I bit my lip, wondering if I should tell him. Even though I was probably mad at Edward for eternity, I didn't want him to get ripped in half or something like that.

"Who did it, Bella baby? Tell me, I swear I'll kick their ass!" he said, grabbing onto my shoulders. Edward made a disgusted face, and I narrowed my eye.

"Edward did," I said, pointing to him. Edward froze, and when Emmett turned to face him, his face became a mask of fear. Emmett walked up to him, stopping about a foot away.

"Did you do this?" he asked, pointing to my face. Edward didn't answer, and Emmett leaned down so that he was only a few inches from his face and grabbed his shirt. "Did you, do _this_?" he roared. Edward shrank against the back of his chair, but Emmett wasn't having that. "_ANSWER ME_!"

I glanced over at Alice, and she had a terrified expression and she was hugging Jasper for dear life. Jasper was hugging her back, attempting to soothe her with quiet words, but they were drowned out by Emmett's enraged shouts.

I heard Alice squeal and bury her face in Jaspers chest, and I whipped my head to see what Emmett was doing. I gasped when I saw him cranking back his arm like he was going to punch Edward.

"No, Emmett!" I shouted, and hugged his arm. Emmett realized too late, and his elbow hit my face, and I fell over. I faded out of consciousness, and I reflected over several things. One was that Emmett's elbow really hurt another that I was kind of happy that Emmett got so angry. The last one was that my poor nose had the worst luck.

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**A/N: 1. I'm sorry for the language, but I thought it was kind of necessary. **

**2. Bella got treated badly in this chapter because I'm mad at her and I wanted her to suffer. **

**3. I made this chapter extra long, almost four pages, just for you guys! So think about that before you come to try and kill me, okay? **

**4. REVIEWWW!!**


	14. Chapter Thirteen

My face had healed mostly, my nose still looked pretty mangled. I did get fired, courtesy of Mrs. Dewitt. Edward didn't get fired, which irritated me beyond belief. We had made up a while ago. I had gone over to his apartment the second Emmett said it was okay to. They had both acted really differently after that whole episode. I expected that from Edward, but not from Emmett. Whenever he looked at my face, which was rarely, something unidentifiable would cross his face, and then he would look away. It made me sad and kind of nervous; I didn't like it when he acted like that. He rarely came over to my house anymore, and he wouldn't let me come over to his.

"Bella, are you going to eat that?" Emmett asked. I snapped out of my daydream and remembered that we were on a date. The first since the episode. I was going to turn nineteen tomorrow, and so Edward, Rosalie, Emmett, and I were going to go out somewhere. I hoped it was a movie. The last movie I had watched was Shawn of the Dead and I really needed to get that out of my head. Zombies terrified me beyond belief.

"Um, yeah, I guess." I muttered. I picked up my untouched hamburger— no cheese, no pickles or mustard or anything like that. Just ketchup. Emmett teased me all the time saying that it was disgusting, but it wasn't. It's really good this way.

Emmett didn't say anything except, "Hey, since your going to take a while, I'm going to get something else to eat."

"If you keep eating like that, Em, you're gonna get really fat." I said. He ignored me and went back up to the counter. I bit my lip, wondering if tomorrow was a good idea to have Edward and Emmett in the same car. Well, they did become kind of close, which really confused me. I can't say it was pleasant, most of the time. Emmett did spend a lot more time with Edward and Rosalie than me.

We finished up our dinner and Emmett dropped me off at my house. I waved bye and went inside. I took a shower and lay on my bed. I had put the Alice doll in a box somewhere, and I hadn't even looked at it for a few months. I hummed my favorite song to myself as I fell asleep.

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I woke up a few hours later and stared at the clock. 6:45 a.m. I moaned and rolled over. Why couldn't I ever sleep in anymore? I rolled off the bed and went to the bathroom. I decided to get ready, why waste time try to get to sleep when I know it's not going to happen? I put on pretty makeup, which took up a fair chunk of time. I did my hair and got dressed. By the time I finished it was 8:00.

I heard someone knocking, and I skipped over to the door. Sure enough, it was Emmett coming to pick me up. I smiled and said finally.

"Hey, Bella." He said while looking at his feet. I sighed.

"Can you actually look at my face, Emmett?" I mumbled. He peeked at my face and then looked over the railing.

"Edward and Rose are here. We better hurry up." He said.

I scowled and followed him down to the car. I was greeted by a smile and a scowl. "Hey, Edward!" I smiled. I felt eyes boring into the back of my head, and turned around. "Hi, Rosalie," I added. She just scoffed at me and looked out the window.

**A/N: I really like writing authors notes! Yay!**

**But really, I have something to say. I know that most of you guys went into this story thinking it's a Bella and Edward story, just give me time to work up to it, okay? I know what I'm doing. (I think.) **

**The reason I was mad at Bella was because I read a fanfic where she was a complete and total whore! **

**Edward punched her because he was just soooooo upset. Remember how Emmett's legs kept hitting the wall? That's why Edward thought that they were having sex. The banging on the wall that scared Bella was Edward hitting the wall. I don't remember why I made him do that, but anyway! Muhahahaha…**

**I think I'm going to wrap up the story soon; I'm getting kind of bored. Oh, and if enough people ask me to, I **_**might**_** do an EPOV. Which is Edward, not Emmett…**

**Oh, and sorry for the short chapter, but something really big is going to happen and I thought it deserved its own chapter.**


	15. Chapter Fourteen

We did see a movie. It took almost an hour for everyone to decide. Rosalie wanted to see House Bunny, Emmett wanted to see Friday the 13th, Edward wanted to see Watchmen, and I wanted to see Twilight. (**Haha**.) Eventually they decided that I should be able to decide since it was my birthday, and I chose Inkheart. It was really stupid, but at least we had fun. Emmett and Rosalie had insisted on sitting next to each other, leaving Edward and I confused. Whenever Edward talked to me, he would seem really warm at first, and then it's like something clicked in his head and he would turn cold and ignore me for a while. That's how it has been since the accident. Emmett still wouldn't look at me, and Rosalie wasn't exactly nice to me. I thought she was kind of flirting with Emmett, but I figured I imagined it.

The boys decided they were hungry, so Rosalie and I trailed after them. She sat at a table in the middle, and I sat across from her. She gave me a look and I lost my temper that I had held all day.

"WHAT is your problem, Rosalie?!" I burst out.

She looked taken aback for a half second. "I beg your pardon?"

I narrowed my eyes. "You've been glaring at me all day, and I've had enough. What is your problem?"

She narrowed her eyes too and didn't say anything. I clenched my fists together and repeated myself.

She gave me a smug smile, like she knew something I didn't. I was going to yell at her some more, but Emmett and Edward came back. Rosalie grabbed Edward arm and sat him down in the chair next to her and started showering him with kisses. I felt Emmett stiffen, and I glanced at his face. It was angry, but I couldn't imagine why. Was it because I wasn't kissing him, too? I started to lean toward him, but thought better of it. I leaned back, embarrassed.

Edward pushed Rosalie off of him, giving her a look. "Rose, what…?"

Emmett grabbed my arm and roughly whispered, "I need to talk to you," in my ear. I looked at him, confused by his angry face.

"What's wrong?" I whispered back. For some reason, I was extremely nervous. I had the awful feeling that something completely horrible was going to happen. He pulled me over to a dark secluded area, and grabbed onto both of my shoulders. He looked me straight in the eyes, and I felt an uncomfortable fluttering in my stomach. This was maybe the sixth time he's looked at my face for more than five seconds for a month.

Reading the confusion in my eyes, he groaned loudly and let go of me, running his hand through his curly hair. "Damn. Listen Bella, I don't really know how to say this…"

Without realizing it, I had started clutching at my chest with both hands. I felt like I was going to throw up. I knew what was coming next. I've read about it enough to know. I didn't want it to happen. "Emmett…" I whispered.

He looked at me, and indecision was plain in his eyes. His eyes seemed to harden, the beautiful brown freezing over. The knot in my stomach grew tighter.

"Bella, I don't like you anymore." He stated coldly.I just stared at him. Even though I knew it was coming, I couldn't comprehend.

Emmett saw the blankness in my face. "Isabella, I don't love you anymore. I don't want to go out with you any longer."

My heart felt like it had been stabbed. "Emmett…but why?" I murmured, broken.

He bit his lip, a habit he had picked up from me, and said quietly, "I've found someone else."

That did it. My heart exploded and I felt like I was going to die. I started crying as an outlet for my pain. I clutched my chest tighter, and tried to keep the crying down. We had been together for almost a year, so why now? Why now, why now, why now, why now!

"On my birthday, even…" I whispered.

Emmett sighed. "Look, Isabella, I'm sorry, but I think it had to be done."

I hung my head, and my hair covered my eyes. "Is it Rosalie?" I asked quietly.

"What?" he asked, looking surprised. Probably because I made the jump so quickly.

"Is it Rosalie?!" I shouted. The room went quiet, and I noticed out of all of the people Edward staring at me. I clenched my teeth together, and dug my fingers into my chest. I could feel my chest starting to bleed, but I kept digging my fingers harder and harder. Tears streamed down my face and blurred my vision. I glared at Emmett with the best of my ability. From what I could see, he nodded.

I narrowed my eyes. "Why am I not good enough anymore?" I asked, my voice tight.

Emmett's eyes filled with pain. "It's not you, Isabella, it's me---"

"Yeah, sure it's not. How many people have said that, and how many have been lying? All of them, Emmett, that's how many." I hissed scathingly. I spun away from him, and walked briskly over to Edward. He looked shocked at my tears, and I asked what time it was. He said it was around 9-ish, and I asked if we could go home. He nodded, stunned.

"What's wrong, Bella?" he asked. I told him what happened, and his face froze.

"He said that he's leaving you for Rosalie?" he choked out. I nodded. He made a choking sound at the back of his throat and glanced at Rosalie, who was deep in conversation with Emmett.

"I think we should go home…" he whispered.

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**A/N: Not exactly the big thing I had planned, but I chickened out of my original plan. I was too afraid everyone would hate me and stop reading haha.**

**R**

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	16. Authors Note

**Okay, I am on emotional freaking overload. I'm probably not going to write for a while, but I'll try not to go over a week and a half. **

**You know what would be a pleasant surprise for me for when I get back? **

**It would be lovely if you guys wrote what you think should happen in the next chapter.**

**The one I like best I might use in the actual chapter, and you'd be given lots of credit and hugs. **

**Pretty please?  
Thank you.**

**And if you do, could you let me know in a review? Because otherwise I will probably never know about it. **

**Thanks a ton!**


	17. Chapter Sixteen

**A/N: ZOMG! I loved all of your ideas, but the one I liked best was made by supertwilightobbsessor. I'm going to be using it next chapter. **

**I will do an EPOV, but not for this story. The sequel (if there is one) will be EPOV. The ending will depend on how I feel about the characters while I write it. Most likely it won't be too good…**

The car ride home was awful. Edward drove; his hands were squeezing so tight that they were white against the wheel. Emmett sat next to me, but I leaned far away from him as possible. Rosalie sat in the passenger seat, occasionally whining about the lack of radio. It felt like it took five hours instead of one half. The tension in the air was so thick it was almost visible.

Edward dropped Rosalie off first, and then he all but kicked Emmett out of the car when we pulled up in front of his neighborhood. He used the excuse that he didn't have enough gas to drive all the way to his house. I continued to sit in the back seat instead of climbing up to the front.

When we reached the apartments, Edward let the car idle. His hands were still tight against the wheel, but after a while they relaxed. He turned his head to me and asked if I wanted to get out of the car, and I said of course. He walked me up to my door and we stood there for a while, looking at our doors.

I turned to him, "Look, Edward---"

"Bella, I---" he said at the same time.

"Nevermind, you go first," we said at the same time. I cracked a small smile, and it felt wrong on my stiff face. Edward looked like he tried to smile, but it just couldn't get out there.

I sighed. "Good night, Edward."

"Wait, Bella, what were you going to say?" he asked.

I bit my lip, and decided that I might as well say it. "Emmett and I didn't have sex. I'm not exactly sure what made you think that, but we never did."

Edward looked shocked for a second. "You didn't? Then what was that sound?"

"What sound?"

"Something kept hitting the wall and the, erm, bedsprings kept squeaking." He mumbled, looking uncomfortable. He scratched his head while waiting for an explanation.

I thought about it for a second, and then laughed. "Emmett was too tired to go home so we both lay on my bed, and his huge legs kept hitting the wall." I relived that moment, and sorrow hit me hard. Not wanting to crumble in front of Edward, I just muttered a good night and went inside.

I pulled out the Alice doll, and after staring at it for quite a while, I decided to visit Alice in the park. I didn't know if she would be there, but it was worth a try.

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First thing in the morning I went down to the only park in the entire city. It was fairly large, so I went to the least populated area and sat on the swings. I had brought the doll and I was looking at it for a long time. A stout woman passed me, and I asked her the time. She told me, and I was surprised to hear that I had only been waiting for ten minutes. It felt like hours.

I heard a soft pattering of feet on road and looked up. Alice was standing in front of me, looking exhausted. It looked like she had been running as fast as she could possibly go with those tiny legs.

"Geez, Bella, couldn't you make up your mind earlier?" she panted. She bent over and put her hands on her knees.

I frowned. "I'm sorry, what?"

She waved her hand as her breathing slowed. "Couldn't you decide to come to the park, like, I don't know, yesterday morning or something?"

I tilted my head to show I didn't understand. Alice rolled her eyes and shook her head. "It's kind of hard to explain."

"We've got time." I said.

Alice sighed heavily and sat in the swing next to me. Her eyebrows drew together in the middle, and it looked like her face was made of marble, it was so smooth. "Uh, I don't exactly know how to explain it," she said quietly. The look on my face had her thinking about it. "I guess the best way to say it is that after I got adopted…" she trailed off.

"Alice, come on! I really want to know!" I whined. I hated to, but I really wanted to know!

"Oh be quiet, Isabella." She snapped. "Anyway, after Mrs. Dewitt adopted me, she put me into training to enhance my, er, psychic ability." She became really quiet at the end and I couldn't hear her. I huffed impatiently and glared at her.

"What did she do?"

"She sent me to a school where I could learn 'psychic' stuff and help her find trends in the stock market before they happen."

My jaw unhinged. I burst out laughing, and my eyes filled with tears. "Are you serious? What a nut!" I giggled.

Alice set her jaw. "It's not funny. She really did that."

I sobered up instantly. "Are you completely and honestly serious?"

"Yes."

I decided to lighten the tense atmosphere. "So what'll happen to me in one week exactly?" I asked.

Alice closed her eyes and was quiet for a minute. "You'll be sitting here talking to me, but you'll be sad for some reason." Shiny golden eyes gazed at me curiously. "You're saying something about Edward, by the way."

My breath stopped. "What do you mean?" I asked.

"I mean that something must have happened between you guys. So watch out." Alice glanced at her watch and stood up. "Isabella, I have to go soon, I have like 5 more minutes."

I didn't want her to go. "Wait! I need you to answer a few questions!" I grabbed onto her jacket and pulled her back to the swing.

"All right, what questions?" she huffed impatiently.

I wracked my brain for the questions I had been dying to ask. "Why did you act all funny when I saw you a few months ago? Who's that blonde kid?"

Holding up her hands, she said, "I acted that way because Dewitt doesn't want me to talk to you and I have to be proper at all times."

"Why don't you call her Mom or something?"

"I call her Mother when I'm around her, but I actually can't stand her, so I call her Dewitt behind her back." She explained.

"Who's that blonde kid?"

Alice blushed slightly. "Jasper. He's my adoptive brother."

I grinned evilly. "Do you liiike him, Ali?"

"No!" she said while burying her red face in her hands.

"Ali and Jaaasper sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" I taunted.

"Shut up!" She said angrily. Looking at her watch, her eyes widened. "I have to go, now! Bye Isabella!" She waved as she started down the path.

"Wait," I called out. She looked at me. "Call me Bella!" she nodded, and started running again. "Wait," I called again, and she turned to me with an irritated expression on her face. "What will I be doing two months from now?"

Closing her eyes, she searched for my future. I guess she found it, because her eyes popped wide open and she gasped. "Um, I, um, have to go!" she stuttered. Turning away from me once again, she ran away at top speed.

I stared after her, shocked. What was so bad she didn't want to tell me? As I left, I swear I heard someone say, "Drive safely, Bella!" But it was probably just a figment of my imagination.


	18. Chapter Seventeen

**A/N: Hey, it's been a while, huh? Sorry about that, some other series has captivated my attention. D-Gray man, have you ever heard of it? It's amazing. I love Road. I wish I was Road. That would be awesome.**

**I'm irritated right now, and I don't want to write. But I feel like I owe you guys, so I'm going to make it as long as I possibly can. **

**Remember, the idea is supertwilightobsessor's. Say thank you to her. Or him. Whichever, I don't know.**

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"Hey, Edward!" I called from the water. "Come on in, it feels great!" I shielded my eyes from the blinding sun and tried to find him. The cold water was up to my waist, and it took everything I had to not slip under from the strong waves. My eyes found him just as a wave hit me in the back, spraying me with cold water. I let out a squeal.

Edward laughed. "I don't think so; I like it just fine up here." He was sitting criss-cross apple sauce style on the sand. He patted the sand castle he had been making with Jaspers help. Alice was sitting next to him, making a smaller but much more detailed castle. It had taken at least half an hour for me to convince Mrs. Dewitt to let them come. I said it would be an educational experience, and she melted.

I huffed, irritated. Stupid Edward didn't want to get in the stupid water just because the stupid waves. I crossed my arms over my chest and went to sit next to them. The sand was sticking to me because I was all wet, and it felt nice and warm compared to the freezing water.

Surveying the beach, I saw several types of beachgoers. There were the pale old fat men in their Speedos, the giggly children with their frilly bathing suits and sand buckets, and the kind I hated most. The beautiful girls in their skimpy bikini's showing off their gorgeous figures. I noticed more than one of them eyeing Edward with mild interest.

I looked down at my outfit, suddenly ashamed. Instead of showing off my curves like I should have been doing, I wore a baggy t-shirt and my old gym shorts.

"Hey," Alice said. "Want to go into the water with me?" I looked at her. She was wearing a bright blue two piece bathing suit that enhanced what little body she had. Her hair in two tight black braids and each ended in a bright colored bow. She was positively adorable. I smiled and said sure, and we ran over to the water. I glanced at Jasper and grinned when I saw him looking at Alice's backside. He noticed me staring at him and turned away, his face red.

"Hey Jasper," I said in a teasing voice. "Might want to put on some sun block for that awful sunburn that you have…" His face turned redder and he mumbled something about having to go to the bathroom. I chuckled and walked with Alice down to the water.

The water was cold to me again, even though I had only been out of it for a few minutes. Alice giggled as she pushed me in. "Take that, Bella!" she laughed. I screamed and fell face first into ice cold water.

When I surfaced, I growled at Alice. "You're gonna pay for that."

She raised one of her eyebrows. "Oh?"

I started splashing her with all I was worth. Water sprayed at her, and she shielded her face. Her high pitched squeals were hilarious, and I started laughing. In less than five seconds, we were both splashing each others brains out and laughing like maniacs.

Our laughter slowed as we gasped for air. All this playing made me hungry. "Want to get something from the Boardwalk?" I asked Alice. She nodded, her face flushed.

I looked at Edward, and he had the strangest expression on his face. It was the look he gave Rosalie when they were still going out. It was kind of dreamy, with a slight smile across his face. I looked around to see the girl who he was looking at, and I only saw Alice. Unless he was interested in the Speedo dudes. It didn't seem likely.

"Bella," Alice whispered to me. "Do you see how Edward is looking at you?"

I let out a startled yelp. "Me? He's not looking at me! He's looking at one of the bikini girls or something!"

Alice snorted. "Bella. Seriously? Look at him." I did so, and when he saw me looking at him, he turned to Jasper and started talking to him. My mouth dropped open. He was looking at _me_? _Why?_

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and we both walked up to the boys. "Do you guys want to get something from the boardwalk?" I asked. To emphasize the need to eat, my stomach growled loudly. I blushed. Stupid stomach wants stupid food and it had to growl in front of stupid Edward.

Edward laughed and Jasper chuckled quietly. We talked as we walked the mile to the Boardwalk, and we made several comments on Speedo men. I felt kind of bad, but I didn't really care.

When we got to the boardwalk, we contemplated how we were going to get across the hot sand and concrete. We forgot our shoes in the car, and we had mostly walked in the water until this point. Jasper said that we should just run as fast as we could over to the first shop, and the stinging would stop after a few seconds. We agreed, and dashed over to the ice cream shop. Well, in my case, I kind of hopped.

"Ow, ow, my feet! Oh crud it BURNS!" I whimpered. The concrete was much hotter than we had originally planned. The girl behind the counter looked at us for a second and then she said something to the lady next to her.

"Excuse me, but you have to have shoes on in order to come in here." She said in a shrill voice. We all groaned. Reluctantly, we all shuffled our overheated feet out of the cool room. Before we left, Alice said to run to that building with the giant fish on the side. Running as fast as we could and trying to ignore the burning, we ran so fast that we didn't stop in time and we hit the side of the building. Like flies would hit a lightbulb.

"Ow, my feet!" I winced as I sat down in the shade and inspected my feet. They were bright red, and so were Alice's and Edward's. Jasper seemed unaffected by the heat, however.

"Do you guys want me to get the food for you?" he offered. We all nodded pathetically. He smiled. "Okay, what do you guys want?" We told him what we wanted and he left to get it.

My hand accidentally brushed Edwards, and I jerked it back reflexively. I glanced up at his face, and it looked like it did half an hour ago. Dreamy. And he was looking at me.

I bit my lip to keep from smiling and I turned to face Alice. She grinned at me and giggled quietly. I mouthed at her to shut up, and her grin just got wider.

I was saved when Jasper came back with the food. He handed Edward a hamburger, me a hot dog, and shared nachos with Alice. It was my turn to smirk at her. She just wrinkled her nose at me and turned to talk to Jasper.

I took a few bites out of my hotdog, and then Edward's thigh touched mine. All of my senses went hyperaware to that one area. Trying to play it cool, I took another bite out of my hotdog like I didn't notice anything.

Some of the ketchup fell on my lap, and I looked down. "Shoot," I murmured as I stood up. "I'm just going to go to the bathroom to wash this off," I told them.

The stain wouldn't come off, and I scrubbed harder. After a few minutes, I gave up and walked outside. I was so busy thinking about dolphins that I didn't look where I was going, and that resulted in me bumping into Edward. Hard.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't see you!" I said quickly before he turned around. When I saw it was just Edward, I relaxed. "Sorry, Edward." I smiled.

What was he doing? _What was he doing?!_

Edward was leaning closer to me, with that dream look on his face. I stared at his face with wide eyes. I couldn't form complete sentences, so in my panic I sounded like a complete idiot.

His lips were less than an inch from mine, and my brain went on autopilot. I closed the distance, and our lips met. Edward seemed surprised for a second, and then he kissed back. The kiss deepened until we heard a small voice saying, "Oh!"

My brain was under my control again, and I pulled back quickly. My face burned, and Edward's face was as red as the stain on my shirt.

"Excuse me," I mumbled, and walked around him quickly. I suddenly felt really self-conscious and I felt like I didn't belong around all of these people. My t-shirt felt see through and I just wanted to get out of there as fast as I could. I asked Alice if she could tell Edward that she wanted to leave, and she looked at me funny but asked him anyway.

"Um, okay." I heard him say.

The car ride was awkward. Alice and Jasper were chattering away in the backseat while Edward and I sat in uncomfortable silence. I reached to turn on the radio and my hand bumped Edwards. I pulled back, and so did he. Folding my hands safely across my lap, I looked out the window for the rest of the ride.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Isabella Swan! What are you doing staring into space like an idiot when we have customers that need to be served?!" My new bossed yelled at me. I jumped and muttered a quick apology as I walked to the customers table. I took their order and handed it to the chick that cooked the food. I landed this new job about a month after the beach incident. Edward and I haven't spoken in over a month and a half. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I didn't want to talk to him, it's just that every time I saw him I got too embarrassed to say anything. The same seemed to be his case, because he didn't make attempts to talk to me either.

Closing time came, and I got into my car. Yes, I did get a car. It wasn't very nice, though. It was pretty much like tinfoil shaped into the shape of a car. I had to drive extra carefully, because I knew it couldn't withstand much pressure.

I sighed as I pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road. As I drove, I thought of ways that I could talk to Edward. Too wrapped up in my thoughts, I didn't look at the color of the lights as I drove through the intersection.

I heard a loud squealing sound, and something slammed into the passenger side of my car. My car flipped over, and I was being tossed inside like a feather. The way the car was bent should be illegal. I felt warm liquid running down my face. Wait no, it was running _up_ my face. Was I upside down? Huh. I guess so.

I heard absolutely nothing for a few seconds, and then several people talking at once and a few screamed. Someone started trying to open the door of my car and I tried to help them. My arms wouldn't move. Terror flooded my veins as I tried moving, and failed.

I could see and hear everything, but I couldn't move or speak. Strangely enough, I couldn't feel much pain. You would've thought that I would be in tremendous pain.

Someone ripped open the side of the car, and I heard them scream. "Bella!" I couldn't move my eyes to see who it was, so I waited for them to move into my line of sight. When they finally moved in front of my face, I was looking into the terrified face of Edward Cullen. My lips tried to pull up into a smile, but nothing moved.

"Oh no, no, no! Bella, no! Don't die, please Bella! Please, oh please!" I heard him sob. "Someone call an ambulance!" he screamed. I wanted to laugh. Don't get so worked up, Edward, it's just a scratch.

The blood started flowing more freely, and some of it got into my eyes. It burned. Edward's hands wiped at my face, trying to get it out of my eyes. That must have set something off, because pain exploded around me. I screamed, and it hurt me. I couldn't stop screaming, and I looked at Edward. His face was frozen, and then my screams stopped. Not voluntarily, but more like my air was cut off. Instead of screaming bloody murder, my voice was reduced to a sickening gurgle before coming to nothing.

Ambulance sirens came closer, and soon I was being lifted onto a gurney. One of the ambulance guys cursed, and shouted something like, "Straighten out her back! She'll die if it stays in that angle!"

Edward was running alongside me, and tears were running down his face. "Oh, Bella, oh no…" he kept saying over and over. The men let him ride in the ambulance with me, and I almost wished they didn't so that I wouldn't have to see his broken expression.

They kept shoving tubes down my mouth and nose. Even though I hated how it felt, I was grateful for the oxygen that I wasn't capable of retrieving on my own. My head felt like it was splitting in two with every bump that the ambulance hit. My eyes were clouded with blood, and I still couldn't move. I almost wished that I could die, just so I wouldn't have to be in such pain.

All the things I was seeing eventually faded, but I was too tired to be scared. Wanting so badly to fade into the pain-free mindset, I tried to shut out Edwards pleas. I started to envision what I thought heaven would look like.

Fully aware that I was giving up, Edward shook my shoulder frantically. "Bella, please don't leave me…" he whispered. The broken sound stopped my heavenly thoughts, and brought me back to my pained body. I turned my head, slowly, painfully, to look at him. My consciousness was fading, and I wanted to tell him something before I faded out completely.

"Edward…" I murmured. "It's okay, Edward, I love…"


	19. Chapter Eighteen

"No, she hasn't woken up yet. Go home, pay some attention to your dog, do _something_. Just don't sit here for hours staring at her." A deep voice said.

"Carlisle, please," another voiced begged. "Can I please stay?"

The first voice sighed. "Stop acting like a ten year old. I said go home, I'm busy."

"What if she wakes up?" the second voice asked.

"I doubt it. Go home, right now."

"Fine. Just let me know, okay? If anything happens, call me and I'll be here in a few minutes."

"I know you will. Don't you sit in the waiting room either; you were scaring the receptionist last time."

There were some rustling sounds, and heavy footsteps that sounded like they were getting closer. Something warm touched my hand, and someone's lips touched my forehead. The person, it sounded like a man, sighed, and whispered something like, "Wake up soon," I heard a door open, and I didn't hear them anymore.

I breathed in deeply. My chest felt tight, like I hadn't moved it in a long time. There were a lot of beeping sounds. I tried moving my arm, but my muscles weren't responding. Instead of trying to move, I went over the car accident in my head. _That was one crappy car_, I thought. I vowed to get a new one as soon as I was able to move.

There was a stinging feeling in one of my arms, and I tried to move my arm to get rid of it. My arm moved slightly, and the stinging feeling got a little better. Realizing that my eyes were closed, I opened them. It took a few seconds, seeing as my eyelids were pretty much stuck shut. How long had it been since I had opened them?  
Judging by the white walls and machinery, I guess I was in the hospital. I looked around, trying to ease my stiff muscles. There was a man with honey blonde hair standing by one of the machines, writing stuff down.

"Carlisle?" I croaked. How long had it been since I had done _anything_?

Carlisle jumped, and stared at me with wide eyes. "Isabella?" he stuttered.

I frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Oh my---Aiedail, she woke up!" he shouted to someone outside the door.

My frown deepened. What was going on? Carlisle saw it, and sat next to my bed. "Okay, do you remember the car accident at all?" he asked.

I nodded.

"Well, you got some brain damage, as well as extreme physical damage. Because of the brain damage, you went into a coma." He explained.

"A coma?" I asked, shocked. "What…how…how long?"

Carlisle looked at me seriously, judging to see if I could handle the answer. "Five years."

I was completely still for almost two minutes. "Five…years?" I choked out. Five years? _Five years?!_ How much had I missed?  
Carlisle sighed. "I suppose I have to call Edward now, don't I?"

"Edward? Is he the person who was in the room earlier?"

"Yes. He hasn't left you alone for more than a week. It is really kind of irritating, having him hover over you all the time." Carlisle chuckled.

"What about Alice?" I asked. "Did she visit me?"

He nodded. "Not as often as Edward, but still very often. Oh, that reminds me. She left something for you, before she went to summer camp. 'In case she wakes up,' she says."

"What was it?"

Carlisle was quiet for a minute, thinking. "I think it was a box." I nodded, pretending to know what he was talking about.

"How old am I now?" I asked. My brain wouldn't do the simple math.

"Twenty-four and three months." He stated.

I was quiet. Twenty-four. Craaaaaap. "Anything else I should know?" I asked.

Carlisle looked uncomfortable for a second. "You might be paralyzed from the waist down, but we don't know since you never moved."

"Paralyzed?!" I screeched. "No no no please no…" I started crying. "I don wanna be paralyzed…"

The door burst open, and Edward stared at me with wide eyes. "Bella?!" he choked. I stared right back at him, my eyes just as wide as his. He stumbled over to the side of my bed, and fell to his knees. "Bella…" he murmured. Taking my hand in his, he pressed his forehead against it lightly. "I missed you so much…" Edward's voice began to tremble, and he looked up at me, eyes filled with tears.

Tears overflowed my eyes and ran down my cheeks. Edward lifted his hand and wiped them away. "Edward," I sniffled.

"Okay, well, I can see I'm not needed here." Carlisle muttered and quickly left the room. I sighed and gazed into Edward's eyes, finding peace. Even though I hadn't been awake for years, it felt like I hadn't seen Edward in millions.

"Bella?" Edward asked, cautiously. "The night of the…crash…" he flinched at the word. "You started to say something, but then you…"

He didn't need to finish. I knew what he was asking, and I knew my answer. I smiled. "I was saying, I love you, Edward Cullen."


	20. Chapter Nineteen

**A/N: Well guys, we had a nice run. But now it's time to wrap this story up. Thanks for all the reviews, I LOVE getting them. It'd be nice if I got to 350…*hint hint* anyway, these last two chapters are in Edward's point of view, just like I promised. I hope you like it. ******

**((p.s. don't be fooled by the ending of this chapter. Things are not always what they appear to be.))**

After Bella had woken up from her coma, we attempted to see if she could walk. It was stunning to see how fragile she looked, despite the weight she put on from no activity whatsoever. Her once tiny figure was now a bit rounder than average. When I looked into her eyes, I felt wonder, peace, and love all at once. Her eyes were like the eyes of a new born child, gazing around in amazement at everything as if it were brand spanking new. All of her reactions were slow, and when she stood up, she leaned heavily on me for support. I smiled down at her, and she smiled back. My chest felt as if someone was inflating it yet squeezing it at the same time. Under normal circumstances, it would have been extremely uncomfortable, but I didn't care.

Bella pushed me slightly. "Let me see if I can stand, Edward!" she whispered in her hoarse voice. I let her go slowly, letting her test her strength to see if she should try this right now. I saw her wobble when I took one hand away. I felt a sinking feeling, knowing the answer already. I withdrew my other hand away reluctantly.

Almost immediately her legs crumbled beneath her, and she nearly hit the floor. I caught her, being careful of her head. I didn't want to risk her going into another coma.

"Bella, bella! Are you all right?" I asked. Her eyes were frozen open in shock, and her lips started to tremble. A single tear rolled down her cheek.

"My legs don't work." She whispered. More tears followed the first, and gushed out of her eyes at alarming speeds. I wiped at them frantically. "Bella, it's okay! You just woke up! You need to get used to using them again, that's all!"

She whimpered and shook her head. "Can I go home now?" she asked quietly. I hesitated, and then picked her up bridal style. I abruptly remembered the time she stabbed her foot, and I carried her in the same fashion. I told her my thoughts, and she chuckled slightly. I swept out the door with my love in my arms.


	21. Epilouge

**EPOV**

"Ellen sweetie, blow out your candles and make a wish!" I whispered to my daughter. She looked up at me grinning, then turned and blew out all of her birthday candles with extreme enthusiasm. All of her friends clapped and cheered. I smiled to myself, turned the lights back on, and said, "Who wants to open presents now?" I was answered by the excited chattering of several five and six year olds. I led them to the main room and was practically vibrating with excitement. I waited until all of the girls had settled down and were seated in a circle around Ellen. I let the girls shout out whose present they wanted Ellen to open first, and eventually handed her a sparkly purple one.

I noticed something suddenly, and I told Ellen to hold on for a second. "But Daddy…." She whined.

"I'm not saying you can't open it, I just want to get your sister down here first." I assured her. "Winnie, get down here! Ellen is about to open Sophie's present!" I shouted up the stairs.

"Daaaaad! I'm talking to Evan! I'll come down later!" was the reply I got. I gritted my teeth.

"Now, Winona." I said. When I heard a frustrated groan and feet walking toward the stairs, I turned back to Ellen. "Just a second, sweetheart." I mouthed.

I walked up the stairs and met my oldest child halfway up. "Winnie, stay downstairs, okay? It's Ellen's birthday and you need to be here." I whispered.

"Why? I don't want to be down there with all those annoying girls."

"Because I said you have to."

"If Mom were here, she would have said I didn't have to if I didn't want to." She said, not even bothering to keep her voice down.

I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. Winona must have seen that she went too far, and mumbled something like an apology and darted downstairs. My hand tightened on the stair rail. I closed my eyes and took several deep breaths to calm myself. I don't know how long I would have stood like that if it weren't for Ellen's impatient whine. "Daddy! I wanna open my presents!"

I fixed a smile back on my face and walked downstairs. "What are you waiting for, Ellen? Open those presents!" Ellen's face split into a huge grin and she ripped into the paper. Her face lit up and she held up a Cabbage Patch Doll. I looked at it, mildly surprised. I didn't know they still sold those things.

The rest of the present-opening passed quickly for me. At the end of the party, all the girls ran out into the backyard, playing until their parents came to come get them. I sat on the couch with my head in my hands. Birthday parties were exhausting.

I heard quiet footsteps come near me. "Dad?" Winona asked quietly.

"Yes, sweetheart?"  
"I'm sorry for saying that to you earlier."

I sighed. "It's all right. I just, um, could you help me pick up this mess?"

"Sure."

We cleaned in silence for a few minutes until the first parent came. "Annie! Your mom's here!" I called. A slightly tubby girl with short blonde hair ran up. "Mommy! I missed you!" She said in her child's voice. Her mother picked her up and held her. "Did you have fun, baby?" Annie giggled. "Yeah! I had lotsa fun! I want to have a birthday party e_veryday!_" The mother laughed loudly and they walked to their car. I watched them walk hand in hand. I didn't notice that I was staring until Winona put her hand on my shoulder. "Come on, Dad." She said gently.

We had fettuccini alfredo for dinner, Ellen's favorite. Afterwards we were watching James and the Giant Peach on the couch. Ellen was snuggled up to my side, her long hair spread across my stomach. Winona sat on the other end texting.

**(A/N: At this point, if you want to get the maximum effect of the rest of this story, put on the song 'No need to argue' by the Cranberries and just stick it on repeat.)**

"Daddy, why was Mommy not at my party?" Ellen asked out of nowhere. I stiffened, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Winona do the same.

I fiddled with her hands. "Why do you ask, sweetie?"

Ellen looked up at me, and I saw Bella's eyes copied directly into her face. "Because I miss her. Where is she?"

I bit my lip to try and keep the tears back. "She's not here."

Ellen frowned. "Why not? Where did she go?"

"She went to heaven," I whispered.

She was silent for a moment. "Where is that?"

"Far, far, away." I choked. A tear rolled down my cheek and landed on Ellen's hand. She looked up at me, alarmed. "What's wrong, Daddy? What's wrong? Don't cry, don't cry!" she whimpered.

I shook my head. "I'm sorry, just give me a second…" Her hand tightened on mine. The cushion next to me sunk, and I felt Winona's head on my shoulder and her arms around my waist.

"Does it make you sad she went there, Daddy?" Ellen asked. I nodded. She was quiet for a few seconds, and then her face lit up. "I have an idea!"

I sighed. "What is your idea, Elly?"

"If it makes you sad that she's there, we can just go get her!" she squealed. "I'll go get us ready!" she jumped off the couch, grabbed her backpack and ran upstairs. I could hear drawers being opened and closed, closet doors being flung open, and bedroom doors being slammed.

Winona's hand found mine and squeezed. "What are you going to tell her?" she asked quietly.

"I don't know…" I whispered. My heart was being crushed, and my shirt was getting soaked from our tears.

Winona looked up at me, her mascara running down her face. "You should tell her. Just straight out. I think it'd be best." I moaned quietly and buried my face in her orange hair.

Ellen's feet pounded down the stairs. She walked into the room carrying several bags. "See, I got us ready! We can go now! Come on, let's go! Let's go!" she came and started to pull on my hand. "We have to go get Mommy! She's lonely without us, we have to!"

I sat up and put my hands on her shoulders to keep her still. "Ellen, sit down." She looked up at me with wide, confused eyes. I sat her down on my lap, and wondered what I was going to say.

"Don't you want to go get her?" she asked. "Why aren't you getting up?" her eyes started to fill with tears that threatened to spill any second.

"Don't, Elly, please don't. I don't think I can take it right now. I can only say this once, and I don't even know if I'll be able to make it through this time." I said to her. I took a deep breath and began.

"Twenty two years ago, your mother was in a really bad car accident. It was so bad that it made her go to sleep for a long time, and it messed up her legs. I waited with her until she woke up, and when she did, we left and got married. She could walk sometimes, if she was feeling really strong. But whenever she did, it was almost like a little baby taking its first steps. A year later she had a baby girl, which is in fact little Winona here." Winona's hand squeezed mine gently, and I smiled softly at her. "Six years after she had Winnie, something went wrong with her body. She got really sick and it almost broke her. But we paid a lot of money to make sure she would get better again, and for a long time we thought it worked. A year after she had you, Elly, it came back. But your mom was a tough little girl, and she fought it as hard as she could. For you, for us. She fought it for so long, it broke my heart to watch her slowly stop working and I knew I couldn't do anything to help. Then, last year, it finally got her. Her body broke, and we couldn't fix it. So your mommy's body had to stay here, and then she went to Heaven."

I was really crying now, and so was Winona. Ellen was working up to it, trying to understand even my simplified version. Her lips trembled, and her hands were shaking. Winona was squeezing my waist tightly and sobbing into my chest.

Ellen's eyebrows pulled together, shadowing her eyes. "Mommy is dead?" she whimpered.

I drew in a shuddering breath. I tried talking, but when it failed I just contented myself with a nod.

Ellen let out a piercing wail, and flung herself onto me. We stayed like that until the light faded from outside.

When I started feeling Ellen's sobs gradually slow and become deep breaths, I knew she was asleep. I thought Winona was asleep too until she started talking to me.

"Dad, I think we should go to her grave tomorrow. I think it'd give Ellen some peace of mind. It'd sure give me some." She murmured. I bit my lip. "You know that you're going to have to eventually. We might as well do it while our conversation is still fresh in her mind. Oh, and we should take Mrs. Alice too. I know they were really good friends."

I nodded and stood up, carefully moving Ellen's head onto the couch. "Yeah, we'll go. I'm going to go call Alice. Could you move Ellen to her bed please? Thanks."

I walked into the kitchen and reached for the phone. I stood for a long time, just staring at the phone. Eventually I lifted a shaking hand and dialed Alice's number. It rang three times before she answered.

"Alice Dewitt speaking."

"Hello, Alice? It's Edward." I murmured.

She was silent for a second. "Ed, are you okay? You don't sound great."

I sighed. "I'm not. I just had a talk with Ellen and Winona."  
"Ohhh. What about?"

"Could you come with us to Bella's grave tomorrow?" I asked.

Alice was quiet for a minute. "It's finally time, huh?"

"Yeah."

I heard her sigh. "Of course I will. What time will we be going?"

"Uhhmmm." I rubbed my face with my hands. "I don't know. Eleven, I guess."

"I'll be there."  
I was about to hang up, but I heard her saying something. I put the phone back to my ear. "I'm sorry, what was that?"  
"I said that you should have the girls each bring something, and we can leave it next to the flowers."  
"Oh, um, all right. I'll tell them."

"Goodnight, Ed."  
"'Night, Alice."

In the morning, I went into Ellen's room and gazed at her sleeping figure. She looked troubled, even in her sleep. I walked over to her bed and sat next to her. I sighed and shook her shoulder. "Wake up, E-bear. We're going somewhere today."

Ellen's eyes opened slowly. "I don't want to go anywhere. I want to stay here." She said, her voice hoarse from crying so much.

"We're going to go visit Mommy."

Ellen sat up so fast I thought she was going to get whiplash. "We're visiting Mommy?!" she shrieked.

I nodded, and I actually felt a little afraid at her reaction.

She narrowed her eyes and clenched her fists. "You said Mommy wasn't here! Why did you lie? Why did you lie to me on my birthday? It's not funny! _It's not funny_!" she screamed at me. I held her arms to her sides and explained what we were doing. She calmed down slowly.

"So I need you to bring something important to you, something to give to Mommy." I told her.

Ellen cocked her head. "Can it be a picture?" she asked.

"Sure it can." I said. "Now come on, we're gonna leave in an hour."  
"Okay, Daddy."

I went into Winona's room and told her the same thing. I couldn't help but scowl at the picture of her and Evan kissing that was sitting on her bedside table. I knew they were serious about each other, but I couldn't help but get irritated.

I walked into my room. I winced as I realized that I had begun to think of it as my room, and not _our_ room. Picking up a picture of us, I realized that this is what I was going to give Bella.

We all got into the car, and picked up Alice on the way. Winona and Alice talked the whole way. They were really good friends. It was almost as if neither of them minded the thirty-ish year time gap in age.

Ellen sat in her seat staring out the window the whole way. I did the same, thinking about Bella the whole way. My favorite memory of us was on our wedding day. She was so beautiful in her dress, her lovely hair down to the middle of her back.

"Edward! You just missed the turn!" Alice's voice jarred me out of my reverie.

"Sorry," I mumbled and turned the car back around. I pulled up into the parking lot and we all got out.

"Okay, no one forget to bring your special something." I announced. I got a chorus of okay's from my little family.

I led them down rows upon rows of tombstones. Ellen was holding Winona's hand, and staring at them all with wide eyes. "Winnie, do all of these mean that somebody's dead?" She asked.

Winona nodded. Ellen's eyes widened. "Am I going to have one?"

Winona bit her lip and looked down at her. She kneeled and looked at Ellen directly in the eyes. "Not for a long time," she promised.

I stopped in front of a particular tombstone. Alice and the others came up and gazed at it thoughtfully. Only Ellen looked at it impatiently. "What does it say? Is it Mommy's?"

Winona spoke up. "It says, 'Isabella Marie Cullen, beloved wife, mother, and friend. 1968-2009." She finished with a sob. Ellen gasped, and reached forward to touch it. "Can I?" she asked me. I nodded, and she ran her fingers along the letters engraved into the stone.

I had forgotten everything else, I didn't see anything else except the tombstone. '_Beloved wife, mother, and friend._' I turned away and sobbed heavily. "Shh, shh, it's okay, Edward. It's okay," Alice murmured in my ear. She wrapped her arms around my waist and let a few tears past her barrier. Winona was sitting with Ellen in her lap, embracing each other tightly and sniffling.

Alice pulled away after a long time and wiped her eyes. "Let's leave the gifts, and then we should leave. I don't know how much longer I can take this." She pulled something out and held it out to us. "Put all of your stuff in here." We all did, and she left it in front of the tombstone, next to the roses.

We stood staring at it for a while, and then Alice said, "Let's go." And we turned and left.

The gifts we had left would remain there for many years. The Alice doll Bella had given to Winona as a baby, a drawing of our family Ellen had drawn, a photo of Bella and I on our wedding day. They all sat in a cherry wood box with a golden leaf clasp.


End file.
